The Progressive Liberal Party (

abbreviated An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

PLP) is a

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

and

social liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

party in

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. Philip Davis is the leader of the party.

History

The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton Taylor. The PLP was the first national political party in the Bahamas. The party governed for 25 straight years from 1967 to 1992, as well as from 2002 to 2007 and 2012 to 2017. Leading the party to its first victory in 1967 was

Lynden Pindling Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC, Order of National Hero (Bahamas), NH, Justice of the peace, JP (22 March 193026 August 2000) was a The Bahamas, Bahamian politician who ...

, the country's first Prime Minister. Perry Christie was Prime Minister of the Bahamas between 2 May 2002 and the 2007 general elections, when the party was defeated by the rival

Free National Movement The Free National Movement (abbreviated FNM) is a political party in the Bahamas formed in the early 1970s and led by Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Michael Pintard and the current deputy leader is Shanendon C ...

(FNM) which won 23 seats of the 41 seats. The FNM installed leader

Hubert Ingraham Hubert Alexander Ingraham, PC (born 4 August 1947) is a Bahamian politician who was Prime Minister of the Bahamas from August 1992 to May 2002, and again from May 2007 to May 2012. He is a member of the Free National Movement Party (FNM). Pr ...

as the Prime Minister. After defeat and one of its MPs leaving the party since, the PLP held 17 of the 41 seats in the

Bahamas National Assembly The Parliament of The Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the sovereign (represented by the governor-general), an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assemb ...

. In the 2012 general election, the Progressive Liberals won a solid majority in a

landslide election A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning candidate or party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyond the typical competitive outcome. The term became ...

victory, taking 29 of the 38 seats in parliament. Christie was sworn into office on 8 May 2012. Hubert Ingraham announced his retirement from politics following the defeat of his party. In September 2021, the PLP defeated the ruling FNM in a snap

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, as the economy struggled to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971. The PLP won 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. The FNM took the remaining seats. On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the PLP Philip Davis was sworn in as the new

Prime Minister of Bahamas The prime minister of the Bahamas is the head of government of the Bahamas. The prime minister is formally appointed into office by the governor-general of the Bahamas, who represents Charles III, the King of the Bahamas (the Bahamian head o ...

to succeed

Hubert Minnis Hubert Alexander Minnis, ON (born 16 April 1954) is a Bahamian politician and doctor who served as prime minister of The Bahamas from May 2017 to 16 September 2021. Minnis is the former leader of the Free National Movement, the former governing ...

Electoral results

References

External links

* Political parties in the Bahamas Liberal parties in North America Social liberal parties Political parties established in 1953 1953 establishments in the Bahamas {{Bahamas-stub