Joseph Junior Sylvester Atherley (born 26 February 1954) is a Barbadian religious minister and politician who served as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

House of Assembly of Barbados The House of Assembly of Barbados is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. It has 30 Members of Parliament (MPs), who are directly elected in single member Constituency, constituencies using the simple-majority (or first-past ...

from 2018 to 2022, and as leader of the

People's Party for Democracy and Development The People's Party for Democracy and Development (PdP), abbreviated as the People's Party, is a political party in Barbados established on 8 June 2019 and led by Joseph Atherley. At its foundation, it served as the main opposition party in bo ...

since 8 June 2019. Atherley was elected in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

as a candidate of the

Barbados Labour Party The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), colloquially known as the "Bees", is a social democratic political party in Barbados established in 1938. It has been in power in 1954–1961, 1976–1986, 1994–2008, and 2018–present. The BLP has been the go ...

(BLP). As the BLP won all seats in the election, Atherley resigned from the party to serve as parliamentary opposition. He was previously an MP for the BLP from 16 February 1999 to 12 February 2008, where he was the first Christian clergyman to be elected to the House of Assembly since independence.

Early life

Born on 26 February 1954 in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, Atherley received his early education at the Federal High School. He later studied at the Christian Union Church of the West Indies Bible College, Chapel Christian University (USA), the

University of the West Indies at Cave Hill University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system. It was the third campus to be established by the UWI System, fol ...

, and the Haggai Institute of Leadership Training in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Atherley serves as Senior Minister of the Better Life Assembly and is a member of the Evangelical Holiness Christian Community. He is also the Barbados regional head of the Christian Union Church of the West Indies. Atherley is married to Esther Hinds-Atherley. He has two sons.

Politics

As a member of the

(BLP), Atherley first entered Parliament in the 1999 elections. He was elected from the Saint Michael West constituency, defeating Branford Taitt of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Atherley was the first Christian minister to be elected to Parliament. He was re-elected in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

by a slightly smaller margin against the DLP's

Michael A. Carrington Michael A. Carrington (born 9 March 1959) is a Barbadian politician. He is a former Speaker of the House of Assembly of Barbados from 2008 to 2018. Early life and education Michael Carrington was born on 9 March 1959 in Bayville, St. Michael. ...

. During his time in Parliament, Atherley was Parliamentary Secretary in the Attorney General's Office and Home Office, and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office under

Owen Arthur Owen Seymour Arthur (17 October 194927 July 2020) was a Barbados, Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date. He a ...

. He also served as First Vice Chairman of the BLP from 2004 to 2005. Atherley sought to retain his seat in the 2008 election, but was defeated this time by Carrington. He returned as a BLP candidate in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, but lost to Carrington. In the

2018 elections The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...

, Atherley won back the St. Michael West seat. The BLP won all the seats in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

; no party had done so since independence. On 25 May 2018, BLP leader

Mia Mottley Mia "Ma" Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to h ...

was sworn in as Barbados' first female prime minister. On 31 May, less than a week after the swearing-in of the new government, Atherley informed the prime minister of his intention to leave the BLP and become an independent parliamentarian. Due to the absence of other non-BLP MPs in Parliament, Atherley was sworn in the next day as

, which entitled him to receive the parliamentary prerogatives of the office, an increased annual salary of BB$129,000, and the power to advise on the appointment of the two minority representatives in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. On 8 June 2019, Atherley announced the formation of the

(PdP) as the new main opposition party under his leadership. His appointed senators Crystal Drakes and Caswell Franklyn were members as well. Atherley did not stand for re-election to his parliamentary seat of St. Michael West in the snap election called in 2022, and his seat was won back by the Barbados Labour Party.

References

External links

Parliament Profile
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