1961 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 4 December 1961.[1] They were the first held after Barbados was granted full self-government earlier in the year. 24 MPs were elected across twelve two-member constituencies, using the block vote method.[2]

1961 Barbadian general election

4 December 1961
24 seats in the House of Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	61.32% (1.03pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Errol Barrow Hugh Gordon Cummins Ernest Mottley Party DLP BLP BNP Leader's seat St. John St. Thomas (defeated) City of Bridgetown Last election 4 seats 15 seats 3 seats Seats won 14 5 4 Seat change 10 10 1 Popular vote 39,534 40,096 24,015 Percentage 36.30% 36.82% 22.05% Swing 16.38pp 12.53pp 0.70pp
Results by constituency
Premier before election Hugh Gordon Cummins BLP Elected Premier Errol Barrow DLP

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Although the incumbent Barbados Labour Party (BLP) received more votes, the non-proportional electoral system allowed the opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to win 14 of the 24 seats and form a government for the first time. Among the defeated BLP candidates was the Premier Hugh Gordon Cummins, who lost his St. Thomas seat. This was also the last time an independent was elected to the Assembly, with trade union leader Frank Leslie Walcott winning a seat in the St. Peter constituency.[3] Voter turnout was 61.3%.[1]