Progressive Liberal Party (Bahamas)

For other parties with the same name, see Progressive Liberal Party (disambiguation).

The Progressive Liberal Party (abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party.

Progressive Liberal Party
Abbreviation	PLP
Party Leader	Philip Davis
Deputy Leader	Chester Cooper
Founded	23 November 1953; 70 years ago (1953-11-23)
Headquarters	Sir Lynden Pindling Centre Farrington Road, P.O. Box N-547 Nassau
Youth wing	Progressive Young Liberals
Ideology	Social liberalism Progressivism Populism
Political position	Centre-left
Colours	Gold, Blue
Slogan	A New Day!
House of Assembly	32 / 39
Senate	12 / 16
Party flag
Website
plpbahamas.org
Politics of The Bahamas Political parties Elections

History

The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton Taylor.^[1][2] The PLP was the first national political party in the Bahamas.^[1]

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

In the 2012 general election,^[3] the Progressive Liberals won a solid majority in a landslide election victory, taking 29 of the 38 seats in parliament.^[4] Christie was sworn into office on 8 May 2012.^[4]

Hubert Ingraham announced his retirement from politics following the defeat of his party.^[4]

In September 2021, the PLP defeated the ruling FNM in a snap election, as the economy struggled to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971.^[5][6] The PLP won 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. The FNM took the remaining seats.^[7] On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the PLP Philip Davis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bahamas to succeed Hubert Minnis.^[8]

Electoral results

Election	Party leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Government
1962	Lynden Pindling	32,261	43.9	8 / 33	8	2nd	Opposition
1967		19,408	45.0	18 / 38	10	1st	Minority government
1968		29,156	62.8	29 / 38	11	1st	Supermajority government
1972		28,599	57.9	29 / 38	0	1st	Supermajority government
1977		35,090	54.7	30 / 38	1	1st	Supermajority government
1982		42,995	56.9	32 / 43	2	1st	Supermajority government
1987		48,339	53.5	31 / 49	1	1st	Majority government
1992		50,258	44.7	16 / 49	15	2nd	Opposition
1997	Perry Christie	49,932	41.9	5 / 40	11	2nd	Opposition
2002		66,901	51.8	29 / 40	24	1st	Supermajority government
2007		64,637	47.0	18 / 41	11	2nd	Opposition
2012		75,815	48.6	29 / 38	11	1st	Supermajority government
2017		59,164	37.0	4 / 39	25	2nd	Opposition
2021	Philip Davis	66,407	52.5	32 / 39	28	1st	Supermajority government

References

1. Nixon, Celeste (8 June 2012). "PLP Founder Cartwright Dies". Bahamas Tribune. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
2. Jones Jr., Royston (8 June 2012). "PLP Co-founder William Cartwright Dies at 89". Nassau Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
3. "Electoral Calendar – international elections world elections". mherrera.org. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
4. Charles, Jacqueline (8 May 2012). "Bahamas swears in new leader as ex-prime minister calls it quits". Miami Herald. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
5. "The Bahamas Election Results". www.caribbeanelections.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
6. "Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. 17 September 2021.
7. "Bahamas Election 2021: PLP election victory confirmed | Loop Caribbean News". Loop News. 20 September 2021.
8. McLeod, Sheri-Kae (17 September 2021). "Phillip Davis Sworn in as Prime Minister of Bahamas ". Caribbean News.

External links

• Official website