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2026 Barbadian general election

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2026 Barbadian general election
← 2022
11 February 2026
All 30 seats in the House of Assembly
16 seats needed for a majority
 
Leader Mia Mottley Ralph Thorne
Party BLP DLP
Leader's seat St. Michael North East Christ Church South
Standing in St. John
Last election 69.03%, 30 seats 26.55%, 0 seats
Current seats 29 1
Seats needed Steady Increase15
Incumbent Prime Minister

Mia Mottley
BLP



General elections are scheduled to be held in Barbados on 11 February 2026 to elect the 30 members of the House of Assembly. Parliament was dissolved on 19 January and nomination day was on 27 January.[1]

Background

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According to the Constitution of Barbados, the Parliament shall stand dissolved no later than every five years from the first sitting of Parliament.[2] The previous general elections were held on 19 January 2022, and the first sitting of the new session of Parliament was held on the 4 February 2022.[3] After the dissolution of Parliament, the President of Barbados must issue a writ for a general election of members to the House of Assembly and for appointment of Senators to the Senate within 90 days.[4]

On 17 January 2026, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley called for a new general election to be held less than a month away on 11 February of the same year. [5]

Democratic Labour Party (DLP) leader and leader of the opposition Ralph Thorne made several claims throughout the election campaign of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP)-led government "interfering" with the voter list and the work of the Electoral and Boundaries Commision, disenfranchising potential electors and called for a delay of the election.[6] Mottley in response refuted these claims and invited authorities from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Commonwealth of Nations to act as official election observers.[7] She stated this decision was made in a bid to “protect the reputation of Barbados.” [8]

Candidate affiliation

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Ten political parties nominated candidates for this election. Including six independents, there were a total of 96 candidates.[9] The slate of potential electors vying disclosed their affiliation under eight (8) main political affiliations:[7]

  • The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) – the previous ruling party administration,
  • The Democratic Labour Party (DLP),
  • Reform Barbados (RB),
  • Solutions Barbados (SB),[10]
  • Friends of Democracy (FOD),
  • Barbados Sovereignty Party (BSP),
  • Bajan Free Party (BFP) and,[11]
  • The People’s Coalition for Progress (PCP),

An independent coalition of smaller parties was announced involving an alliance comprising candidates running under the banner of: the New National Party (NNP), the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the Conservative Barbados Leadership Party (CBLP).[12]

Parties

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Party Position Ideology Leader Leader since Leader's seat 2022 election Seats at
dissolution 		Contested seats
% Seats
Barbados Labour Party Centre-left Social democracy
Republicanism 		Mia Mottley 26 February 2013[13] St. Michael North East 69.26 30 29 30 seats
Democratic Labour Party Centre-left Social democracy
Republicanism 		Ralph Thorne 19 February 2024[14] Christ Church South Standing in St. John 26.41 0 1 30 seats
People's Coalition for Progress
(NNP–UPP-CBLP) 		Centre-left to Center-right Social democracy
Progressivism
Conservatism
Multiculturalism 		Kemar Stuart
Lynette Eastmond
Corey Beckles 		19 January 2026 [15] Standing in St. John (Kemar Stuart)
Standing in St. Philip West (Lynette Eastmond)
Standing in City of Bridgetown (Corey Beckles) 		New Electoral Alliance 0 0 12 seats
Friends of Democracy Centre-left Social democracy Karina Goodridge 18 May 2025[16] Standing in St. Phillip West New Party 0 0 12 seats
Bajan Free Party Government transparency
Anti-corruption 		Alex Mitchell 1 October 2012[17] Standing in St. Michael South 0.17 0 0 3 seats
Solutions Barbados Centre Third Way Grenville Phillips II 1 July 2015[18] None 0.69 0 0 1 seat
Reform Barbados Steve Prescott 2018[19] Standing in Christ Church East New Party 0 0 1 seat
Barbados Sovereignty Party Michael Thompson[20] None 0.11 0 0 1 seat

Electoral system

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The 30 members of the House of Assembly are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.[21]

Candidates by constituencies

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Name Barbados Labour Party Democratic Labour Party
City of Bridgetown
Christ Church East
Christ Church East Central
Christ Church South
Christ Church West
Christ Church West Central
St. Andrew
St. George North
St. George South
St. James Central
St. James North
St. James South
St. Lucy
St. Michael Central
St. Michael East
St. Michael South
St. Michael South Central
St. Michael South East
St. Michael North
St. Michael North East
St. Michael North West
St. Michael West
St. Michael West Central
St. Peter
St. Philip North
St. Philip South
St. Philip West
St. John
St. Joseph
St. Thomas

Opinion polls

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Polling firm Last date of polling[a] Link BLP DLP Others Margin Sample size Lead
The Nation Barbados
Starcom Network [b]		 31 January 2026 [22] 77.1 18.6 4.3 ±3pp 1 145 58.5
17 January 2026 Mia Mottley announces 2026 Barbadian general election
2022 election 22 January 2022 [23] 69.26 26.41 4.35 N/a 114,013 42.85

References

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  1. ^ Clarke, Sherrylyn (18 January 2026). "General Election in Barbados on February 11, 2026". Nation News. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  2. ^ Constitution: Section 61 (3): "Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date of its first sitting after any dissolution and shall then stand dissolved. (4) At any time when Barbados is at war, Parliament may extend the period of five years specified in subsection (3) for not more than twelve months at a time:"
  3. ^ "Document Details". Barbados Parliament. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  4. ^ Constitution: Section 62 (1) (2): "After every dissolution of Parliament the Governor General shall issue writs for a general election of members of the House of Assembly returnable within ninety days from that dissolution. (2) As soon as may be after every general election the Governor General shall proceed under section 36 to the appointment of Senators."
  5. ^ McLeod, Sheri-kae (18 January 2026). "Barbados to head to polls on February 11, 2026 as Mottley calls early election". CNW Network. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
  6. ^ Mounsey, Colville (29 January 2026). "Thorne: Govt interfering in EBC's work". nationnews.com. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  7. ^ a b Clark, Joanne (28 January 2026). "PM Mottley invites CARICOM, Commonwealth to observe Barbados elections".
  8. ^ Graham, Lourianne (27 January 2026). "PM Mottley invites CARICOM, Commonwealth observers to monitor poll". Barbados Today. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  9. ^ admin (29 January 2026). "96 nominated to contest in Febuary [sic] 11th election". Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  10. ^ Today, Barbados (28 January 2026). "Solutions Barbados to contest poll with single candidate". Barbados Today. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  11. ^ Escamilla, Lauryn (27 January 2026). "Bajan Free Party candidates pay deposits ahead of Nomination Day". Barbados Today. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  12. ^ Joseph, Emmanuel (28 January 2026). "Nomination Day passes smoothly as general election campaign begins". Barbados Today. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  13. ^ "Mottley replaces Arthur as opposition leader in Barbados". Caribbean360. 26 February 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014.
  14. ^ @KevzPolitics (19 February 2024). "#BREAKING - CBC: Barbados Leader of Opposition Ralph Thorne announced as the new Political Leader of the Democratic Labour Party - granting the party its first seat in Parliament since 2018. Dr Ronnie Yearwood will remain DLP President" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Graham, Lourianne (20 January 2026). "New coalition pushes for reform, fairer representation, voter re-engagement". Barbados Today. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  16. ^ Greaves, Tre (18 May 2025). "Friends of Democracy to become a full political party". nationnews.com. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  17. ^ "Caribbean Political Parties | Bajan Free Party". caribbeanelections.com. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Caribbean Political Parties | Solutions Barbados". www.caribbeanelections.com. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  19. ^ Joseph, Emmanuel (18 January 2026). "New Party: Reform Barbados enters political arena". Barbados Today. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  20. ^ "Solutions Barbados and two other parties broker deal to team up". Barbados Today. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  21. ^ Electoral system IPU
  22. ^ Devonish, Dwayne (2 February 2026). "The Swing Factor". The Nation Barbados. p. 12.
  23. ^ "Report on the Barbados General Election 2022" (PDF). The Barbados Parliament. 29 June 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference order was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Collaboration between The Nation Newspaper and Starcom Network. Poll figures are based on decided voters only excluding wont say, undecided and non voters
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