| Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party | |
| Abbreviation: | ABLP |
| Leader: | Gaston Browne |
| Foundation: | 18 May 1946 |
| Founder: | V.C. Bird |
| Ideology: | Republicanism Economic liberalism Fiscal conservatism Paternalistic conservatism |
| Position: | Centre-right[1] |
| Seats1 Title: | Seats in the House of Representatives |
| Seats2 Title: | Seats in the Senate |
| Seats3 Title: | Seats in the Barbuda Council |
| Country: | Antigua and Barbuda |
The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. The current leader of the party is Gaston Browne, who serves as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. The party had previously been led by Lester Bird, who was chairman of the party since 1971, and was Prime Minister and political leader in 1994.
The party was founded in 1946, during the first national elections, as the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). Its founders included Vere Bird, father of Lester. The ABLP later came to be seen as a political arm of the Bird family. With the exception of five years in the 1970s, the ABLP ruled Antigua and Barbuda for over four decades leading up to 2004. It was in the opposition from 2004 to 2014, and then returned to power in the 2014 general election.
Two major events precipitated the ABLP's first defeat in 28 years in the 2004 elections. First, an Electoral Commission was introduced after the 1999 election. According to international observers, the 1999 election was rife with irregularities. The report from an observer group from across the Commonwealth concluded that "voting rolls appeared to be inflated" and recommended "the establishment of an independent electoral commission to improve the voter registration process."[2] Second, in 2002 there was a scandal over medical benefits, in which the government failed to contribute EC$120 million to cover recipients' medical expenses.[3]
The opposition United Progressive Party campaigned on an anti-corruption platform they called "Government in the Sunshine." The ABLP lost its majority in the general election held on 24 March 2004. It received 41.8% of the popular vote, but won only four out of 17 seats. ABLP Prime Minister and political leader Bird was also defeated in his constituency.
In early 2009, the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party faced an internal leadership crisis. There was speculation that even if the ABLP won the 2009 election, Bird's leadership would be challenged.[4] He announced that, if the ABLP failed to win the forthcoming 2009 general election, he would step down.[5] Nevertheless, despite not winning, he remained the ABLP's leader[6] until 2012, when he was defeated by Gaston Browne in a leadership challenge.
The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party won 14 of the 17 seats in the Legislature in the 2014 general elections, forming a majority government with Browne as Prime Minister. They won 15 seats in the 2018 general elections and thereby retained power.
Despite having been founded as a partisan expression of the labor movement in Antigua and Barbuda and having labor and social democratic origins,[7] the party is generally considered as an economically liberal and fiscally conservative party,[8] [9] defender of a market-oriented economy and tax reductions, in particular rejecting the imposition of income tax.[10] However, the party's policy of maintaining the public sector as the largest employer in Antigua and Barbuda during its successive governments (representing up to 40% of the workforce) has also led to the party being considered a guarantor of a "paternalistic conservatism" or "right-wing socialism."[11] After the death of Elizabeth II of Antigua and Barbuda, the party went on to officially support the conversion of Antigua and Barbuda into a republic.[12]
| Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Vere Bird | 4,182 | 87.4 | New | 1st | ||
| 1956 | 5,509 | 86.7 | 0 | 1st | |||
| 1960 | 2,128 | 85.0 | 2 | 1st | |||
| 1965 | 7,275 | 78.9 | 0 | 1st | |||
| 1971 | 6,409 | 37.9 | 6 | 2nd | |||
| 1976 | 12,056 | 49.0 | 7 | 1st | |||
| 1980 | 12,794 | 58.0 | 2 | 1st | |||
| 1984 | 12,972 | 67.9 | 3 | 1st | |||
| 1989 | 14,207 | 63.9 | 1 | 1st | |||
| 1994 | Lester Bird | 14,763 | 54.4 | 4 | 1st | ||
| 1999 | 17,521 | 52.6 | 1 | 1st | |||
| 2004 | 16,534 | 41.9 | 8 | 2nd | |||
| 2009 | 19,657 | 46.9 | 3 | 2nd | |||
| 2014 | Gaston Browne | 24,212 | 56.5 | 7 | 1st | ||
| 2018 | 23,063 | 59.24 | 1 | 1st | |||
| 2023 | 20,052 | 47.1 | 6 | 1st |
| Election | Leaders | Votes | Seats | Position | Government | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | ± | No. | ± | |||||
| 1976 | Vere Bird | ||||||||
| 1979[13] | [14] | ||||||||
| 1981 | |||||||||
| 1983 | |||||||||
| 1985 | [15] | ||||||||
| 1987 | |||||||||
| 1989 | |||||||||
| 1991/1992 | |||||||||
| 1993/1994 | |||||||||
| 1996 | Lester Bird | 1st | |||||||
| 1997 | |||||||||
| 1999 | |||||||||
| 2001 | |||||||||
| 2003 | |||||||||
| 2005 | [16] | ||||||||
| 2007 | [17] [18] | 2nd | |||||||
| 2009 | [19] [20] | ||||||||
| 2011 | 1,680 | 48.81 | [21] | 2nd | |||||
| 2013 | Gaston Browne | 2,295 | 53.51 | [22] | 1st | ||||
| 2015 | [23] | 2 | 1st | ||||||
| 2017 | 2,791[24] | 48.34 | [25] | 2 | 1st | ||||
| 2019 | 4 | 2nd | |||||||
| 2021 | 1,319[26] [27] [28] | 36.19 | 2 | 2nd | |||||