Parliament of the Turks and Caicos Islands

The Parliament of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the legislature of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The name of the house was changed from the Legislative Council of the Turks and Caicos Islands to House of Assembly of the Turks and Caicos Islands following the implementation of the new constitution on 9 August 2006. The current name was adopted on 10 December 2024.^[1]

Parliament of the Turks and Caicos Islands
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Vacant
Premier	Washington Misick, PNP
Leader of the Opposition	Edwin Astwood, PDM
Structure
Seats	21 19 elected members2 ex officio
Political groups	Government (16)   PNP (14) Opposition (3)   PDM (2)   Independent (1) Others (2)   Ex officio (2)
Elections
Last election	7 February 2025
Next election	2030
Meeting place
Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos Islands

In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos' self-government after allegations of ministerial corruption. The prerogative of the ministerial government and the House of Assembly were vested in the islands' governor until a general election was held in November 2012.^[2]

Composition

The Parliament has 21 members in total. Formerly, 15 members were elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies (of which 11 lay in the Caicos Islands and 4 in the Turks Islands), while 3 members sat ex officio, 3 were appointed members and a speaker was chosen from outside the house.

Although the number of elected representatives to the body was not changed during the 2009-12 suspension of self-government, the composition was changed so that ten of the 15 elected representatives are elected to individual districts, while five are now elected at-large.

Starting with the 2025 elections, the composition of the newly renamed Parliament will be changed so that the four formerly appointed members will also be elected at-large, thus increasing the at-large constituency to nine members.^[3]

Consultative Forum (2009-2012)

Following the suspension of self-government in August 2009, the Governor assembled a Consultative Forum for the Turks and Caicos Islands to advise him on legislation relating to the territory. The forum consisted of the Chief Executive, the Attorney-General, the Permanent Secretary for Finance, and eleven to fifteen representatives of the community, appointed by the Governor. The council could make non-binding recommendations to the Governor about bills that were presented to it and on policies that were referred to it.^[4] The chair of the Consultative Forum was Lillian Missick.^[5] The forum disbanded in November 2012 upon the election of a new House of Assembly following restoration of self-government to the islands.

Election results

General election results, 2025

Party		District			At-large			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Progressive National Party	3,958	58.56	7	35,560	60.17	9	16	+2
	People's Democratic Movement	2,578	38.14	2	22,794	38.57	0	2	+1
	Progressive Democratic Alliance				183	0.31	0	0	0
	Independents	223	3.30	1	558	0.94	0	1	+1
Ex officio members								2	0
Nominated members								0	–4
Total		6,759	100.00	10	59,095	100.00	9	21	6759
Valid votes		6,759	100.00
Invalid/blank votes		0	0.00
Total votes		6,759	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		9,385	72.02
Source: Turks & Caicos Islands Government

See also

• List of speakers of the Turks and Caicos Islands House of Assembly

References

1. "Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution (Amendment) Order 2024- Proclamation of Commencement". Retrieved 2 February 2025.
2. "Britain suspends Turks and Caicos government". Reuters. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
3. "Constitutional Change in Turks and Caicos Islands: Territorial Particularities and Regional Commonalities". ConstitutionNet. 30 November 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
4. "Consultative Forum". www.gov.tc. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
5. "UKOTA - UK Overseas Territories Association". Archived from the original on 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2012-02-27.