Barbados

Barbados The most easterly island in the Caribbean Sea. Settled by the British from 1627, it became a Crown Colony in 1652. Its economy long depended on sugar plantations operated with the use of African slaves, who were emancipated only in 1834 and 1838 respectively. Partly as a result of the decline of the sugar industry, there were widespread riots and disorder in 1937–8, with bitter racial antagonism emerging. In response, the economy of Barbados was diversified, and in 1950 universal adult suffrage was introduced. The first elections held under the new suffrage in 1951 confirmed the predominance held by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in the country's political sphere since 1938. Under the leadership of Adams, Barbados joined the short-lived West Indian Federation (1958–62). Eventually, it was granted full independence as a member of the Commonwealth on 30 November 1966. Since the 1960s, power has alternated between the BLP and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Led by Errol Walton Barrow(b. 1920, d. 1987), the DLP gained a majority for the first time in 1961 and remained in power until 1976. The DLP reclaimed power in 1986. In 1987 Lloyd Erskine Sandiford of the DLP was elected Prime Minister, but the failure of his policies to stimulate the stagnant economy produced a dramatic election victory for the BLP in 1994, as it gained nine seats to obtain nineteen, while the DLP lost ten seats to obtain eighteen (with one independent) in the House of Assembly. Led by Owen Arthur, the BLP was re-elected in 1999, when the DLP's parliamentary strength was reduced to two seats, against twenty-eight for the BLP.