Holiday Declared in Barbados After Election Marked by Low Turnout

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has declared Friday, February 13, a holiday following her party’s decisive win in the February 11 general election.

Mottley’s Barbados Labour Party (BLP) secured all 30 seats in Parliament, marking its third consecutive clean sweep. She easily retained her St. Michael North East seat, while Democratic Labour Party (DLP) leader Ralph Thorne was defeated in St. John by BLP candidate Charles Griffith.

Six political parties and several independent candidates contested the election, but the BLP’s dominance remained unchallenged. Mottley will be sworn in on Monday to begin her new term.

Preliminary figures suggest voter turnout was approximately 40%, down from the 69% turnout recorded during Mottley’s previous election win. Voter turnout refers to the percentage of registered voters who actually cast a ballot.

Low turnout can mean many things, but in this case, it shows that a majority of registered voters in Barbados chose not to take part in this year’s election. This means fewer people are directly involved in deciding who leads the country.

By comparison, Belize’s last general election saw the People’s United Party win with roughly 64% voter participation, a much higher turnout.