CELEBRATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF BERMUDA’S MODERN PARLIAMENT
The Speaker of the House of Assembly in Bermuda, Hon. Stanley Lowe, JP, MP, provides a fascinating account of the history of the constitutional changes which ultimately led to the development of Bermuda’s modern Parliament.
Hon. Stanley Lowe, JP, MP, in
Hamilton Mr Lowe is the Speaker of the House of Assembly of Bermuda. He joined the Progressive Labour Party in 1968 and won his parliamentary seat for the constituency of Southampton East. He became the Speaker of Parliament in 1998 after having served as Deputy Speaker since 1995. Mr Lowe has the distinction of being the first black Bermudian Speaker of Parliament.
When I was elected to Parliament in 1968 and having served continuously since then, I was honoured when I was asked to give this brief overview of the history of the constitutional changes and development of Bermuda’s modern Parliament. The island of Bermuda was settled in 1609 by Sir George Somers, and Bermuda’s first Parliament met in 1620 in St. Peter’s Church in the old Town of St. George which is now a World Heritage Site. Bermuda’s Parliament has been in continuous existence since 1620 and it has the added distinction of being the oldest Parliament outside of Westminster in London. In 1826, Bermuda’s Parliament moved to its present site in the Sessions House in Hamilton. In 1995 our Parliament celebrated 375 years of continuous existence.
The beginning Bermuda’s political party system was established in 1963 with the forming of the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) followed by the United Bermuda Party (UBP) in 1964. At that time, the Bermuda Parliament consisted of Members from both parties as well as independents, however, prior to the establishment of political parties, Bermuda’s Parliament was presided over by
36 independent Members – four Members each were selected from each of Bermuda’s nine parishes. In the early days, Members of the elected Parliament were known as MCP, namely for Members of Colonial Parliament. The person elected or appointed to lead the country and hold the position as
Bermuda’s modern Hon. Stanley Lowe
leader of the party was known as Government Leader. While the title for our leader has been changed though the passage of time, the process by which he/she is chosen, still holds true today. The persons appointed to assist the Leader were known as Members-in-Charge. All of this was not readily understood by Parliaments in larger jurisdictions, where Cabinet and Ministerial Government had long been the norm.
parliamentary and ministerial system of government emerged out of a magnificent era of monumental change that had its genesis in the 1966 constitutional conference at Malborough House in London. Political parties and all political groupings in the Legislature were in attendance. The new Bermuda Constitution that was hammered out in London in 1966, came into effect in 1968 and provided for 40 elected members to convene Parliament. Other changes included additional parliamentary representatives for Pembroke which was the most populated of Bermuda’s nine parishes. Moreover, the voting age was reduced to 21-years for the first time under universal adult suffrage,. In 1979, another constitutional
conference was held in Bermuda at Warwick Camp. This provided for the new style of name of Members of Parliament. Elected members were now referred to as MPs. Members-in-Charge became Ministers and the Executive Council, became the Cabinet. Parliament continued to evolve into a modern constitutional framework. During this period, there were many pieces of legislation that needed to be
The Parliamentarian | 2009: Issue One - Bermuda | 7