House of Representatives (Belize) explained

House of Representatives
Coa Pic:Coat of arms of Belize.svg
Coa-Res:140px
House Type:Lower house
Leader1 Type:Speaker
Leader1:Valerie Woods
Party1:PUP
Election1:11 December 2020
Leader2 Type:Prime Minister
Leader2:Johnny Briceño
Party2:PUP
Election2:November 12, 2020
Leader3 Type:Leader of the Opposition
Leader3:Shyne Barrow
Party3:UDP
Election3:February 1, 2022
Members:31
Structure1:File:2020 Belize House of Representatives.svg
Structure1 Res:250px
Voting System1:First-past-the-post
Last Election1:11 November 2020
Political Groups1:HM Government

HM Most Loyal Opposition

Session Room:Belmopan Parliament.jpg
Meeting Place:National Assembly Building of Belize
Independence Hill
Belmopan
Belize
Website:National Assembly of Belize

The House of Representatives of Belize is the lower chamber of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives".

Area Representatives are elected by winning a majority of votes in their respective constituencies under the first-past-the-post system. The body is directly descended from the British Honduras Legislative Assembly created in 1954 with nine elected members. It has been expanded several times since: to 18 in 1961, 28 in 1984, 29 in 1993 and finally to 31 in 2008. The leader of the majority party in the Belize House typically becomes Prime Minister of Belize.

Current members of the House of Representatives by district

The elected representatives and their constituencies according to the Elections and Boundaries Department are:

Belize District
Orange Walk District
Cayo District
Corozal District
Stann Creek District
Toledo District

Elections

Next election

See main article: Next Belizean general election.

According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the Governor-General of Belize upon the advice of the prime minister.[1] and the election held within three months of the dissolution. The current parliament first met on Friday 13 November 2020, so the next election must be held no later than 13 February 2026.

Past elections

See also: 2020 Belizean general election. The most recent general election to the House of Representatives, held on 11 November 2020, was the 16th since 1954 when universal literate adult suffrage was introduced, and the 8th since independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. The People's United Party led by Johnny Briceño entered Government for the first time last winning in 2003. It won 26 seats, while the United Democratic Party won only 5 seats.[2]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Belize / Belice: Constitution 1981. 11 July 2011. Political Database of the Americas. 12 January 2017. 24 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210224032331/https://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Belize/belize81.html. live.
  2. Web site: 2020 General Election Results. 2020-11-12. 2020-11-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112211158/https://elections.gov.bz/pdf/results-1-2020-elections.pdf. dead.