1961 Barbadian general election

(Redirected from Barbadian general election, 1961)

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4 December 1961

1966 →

24 seats in the House of Assembly
13 seats needed for a majority

Turnout

61.32% (

1.03pp)

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Errol Barrow	Hugh Gordon Cummins	Ernest Mottley
Party	DLP	BLP	BNP
Last election	4 seats	15 seats	3 seats
Seats won	14	5	4
Seat change	10	10	1
Popular vote	39,534	40,096	24,015
Percentage	36.30%	36.82%	22.05%
Swing	16.38pp	12.53pp	0.70pp

Results by constituency

Premier before election

Hugh Gordon Cummins
BLP

Elected Premier

Errol Barrow
DLP

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General elections were held in Barbados on 4 December 1961. They were the first held after Barbados was granted full self-government earlier in the year. 24 MPs were elected across twelve two-member constituencies, using the block vote method.

Although the incumbent Barbados Labour Party (BLP) received more votes, the non-proportional electoral system allowed the opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to win 14 of the 24 seats and form a government for the first time. Among the defeated BLP candidates was the Premier Hugh Gordon Cummins, who lost his St. Thomas seat. This was also the last time an independent was elected to the assembly, with trade union leader Frank Leslie Walcott winning a seat in the St. Peter constituency. Voter turnout was 61.3%.

Results

The result was highly disproportionate for the two major parties, with the BLP receiving 37% of the vote but only winning 25% of the seats, while the DLP received 36% of the vote and won 58% of the seats.


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barbados Labour Party	40,096	36.82	5	–10
	Democratic Labour Party	39,534	36.30	14	+10
	Barbados National Party	24,015	22.05	4	+1
	Independents	5,263	4.83	1	–1
Total		108,908	100.00	24	0

Valid votes		63,536	99.14
Invalid/blank votes		554	0.86
Total votes		64,090	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		104,518	61.32
Source: Caribbean Elections

References

^ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p90 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
"Barbados General Election Results - 4 December 1961". Caribbean Elections. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
Caribbean Elections

v t e Elections and referendums in Barbados
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West Indies elections	1958

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