Dominica Labour Party

History

Founded in 1955 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Emmanuel Christopher Loblack, the Dominica Labour Party is the oldest political party in Dominica.[1] It first contested general elections in 1961, winning seven of the eleven seats. In the next elections in 1966 it won all but one of the seats. It retained power in the 1970 elections, although it was reduced to eight seats. A fourth consecutive victory was achieved in the 1975 elections when it won 16 of the 21 seats.

In 1980 the party suffered a major defeat, seeing its vote share reduced from 50% to 17%, and losing all its seats as the Dominica Freedom Party won the elections. It regained five seats in the 1985 elections, losing one in 1990 and gaining one in 1995.

In the 2000 elections the party regained power for the first time since 1975, winning 10 of the 21 seats and forming a coalition with the DFP, after which Roosevelt "Rosie" Douglas became Prime Minister. However, on 1 October 2000 Douglas died suddenly after only a few months in office and was replaced by Pierre Charles. On 6 January 2004, Charles, who had been suffering from heart problems since 2003, also died. After the death of Pierre Charles, Foreign Minister Osborne Riviere acted as Prime Minister, until Education Minister Roosevelt Skerrit was named political leader of the party and sworn in as Prime Minister.

Under the leadership of Roosevelt Skerrit, the party won 12 seats in the 2005 elections and remained in office. In the 2009 general elections the Dominica Labour Party scored a third consecutive victory winning 18 of the 21 seats, despite the opposition's claims of campaign improprieties.[2]

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections
Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
1961 Edward Oliver LeBlanc 7,848 47.5%
7 / 11
 7 1st Majority government
1966 11,735 65.0%
10 / 11
 3 1st Supermajority government
1970 9,877 49.9%
8 / 11
 2 1st Supermajority government
1975 Patrick John 10,523 49.3%
16 / 21
 8 1st Supermajority government
1980 Oliver Seraphin 5,326 16.8%
0 / 21
 16 3rd Extra-parliamentary
1985 Michael Douglas 13,014 39.1%
5 / 21
 5 2nd Opposition
1990 7,860 23.5%
4 / 21
 1 3rd Opposition
1995 Rosie Douglas 11,064 29.8%
5 / 21
 1 2nd Opposition
2000 15,362 42.9%
10 / 21
 5 1st DLP–DFP coalition government
2005 Roosevelt Skerrit 19,741 52.07%
12 / 21
 2 1st Majority government
2009 22,262 61.34%
18 / 21
 6 1st Supermajority government
2014 23,208 56.99%
15 / 21
 3 1st Supermajority government
2019 23,541 59.29%
18 / 21
 3 1st Supermajority government

References
  1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p225 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. "Dominica from U.S. State Department". www.state.gov. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
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