January 2021 Tobago House of Assembly election

January 2021 Tobago House of Assembly election
← 2017 25 January 2021 December 2021 →
All 12 seats in the Tobago House of Assembly
7 seats needed for a majority
Turnout51.84% (Increase 1.64 pp)
  First party Second party
  Tracy Davidson-Celestine
Leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine Farley Chavez Augustine[b]
Party PNM PDP
Leader since 27 January 2020 –[b]
Leader's seat Lambeau/Signal Hill[a] Parlatuvier/L’Anse Fourmi/Speyside
Last election 10 seats, 54.68% 2 seats, 30.96%
Seats won 6 6
Seat change Decrease 4 Increase 4
Popular vote 50.4% 48.5%
Swing Decrease 4.32 pp Increase 17.5 pp
Map of the 12 electoral districts of Tobago, used to elect members to in the January 2021 elections
Chief Secretary before election

Ancil Dennis
PNM

After elections

Ancil Dennis (caretaker government)
PNM

House of Assembly elections were held in Tobago on 25 January 2021 where 12 members were elected in the eleventh election since the Assembly was established in 1980.[2] This election marked the first time in history that both parties elected, the People's National Movement (PNM) and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) won an equal number seats of 6-6, despite the PNM winning the popular vote, resulting in a deadlock and a constitutional crisis with both political parties and Prime Minister Keith Rowley seeking senior counsel advice on the way forward.[3][4] This election was the first time after 20 years in power that the PNM lost its absolute majority.[5][6][7] This election also marked the first time a female political leader was elected to the Assembly and the first time a woman led a major political party or a political party with representation in the Assembly, following the 2020 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election where Health Secretary, councillor and former Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to Costa Rica and former Deputy Chief Secretary of Tobago Tracy Davidson-Celestine made history by being elected as the PNM's first female political leader at the regional or national level and one of the first bilingual political leaders in the country's history. If Davidson-Celestine and the PNM were to be elected with a majority to their sixth consecutive term in office, she would have made history, becoming the first female Chief Secretary of Tobago. The election was held alongside local by-elections in Trinidad in which the PNM and UNC retained two districts and the PNM losing one to the UNC.[8][9][10][11]

To break the deadlock and offer a solution to the constitutional crisis, Parliament intervened and passed the THA Amendment Act in March 2021 allowing the Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) the mandate to increase the electoral boundaries. In September 2021, the EBC report was passed in the Parliament, increasing the electoral boundaries from 12 seats to 15. On 6 October 2021, Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis announced the December 2021 Tobago House of Assembly election to be held on 6 December 2021.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ ‘My team will lead TT into the future’ Archived 2019-02-03 at the Wayback Machine Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 27 September 2018
  3. ^ "What's Next For The THA". Caribbean Communications Network. 27 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  4. ^ beta (28 January 2021). "Fresh elections the only way forward in THA impasse". Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  5. ^ "PDP ropes in PNM: THA 6-6 tie leaves uncertainty". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. 2021-01-26. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  6. ^ "A house divided—THA in crisis". www.guardian.co.tt. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  7. ^ "'Tobago over a precipice'". Trinidad Express Newspapers. 26 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  8. ^ "PNM loses local government by-election race 3-2 to UNC". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. 2021-01-26. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  9. ^ "Candidates file nomination papers for THA election, bye-elections". www.looptt.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  10. ^ beta (5 January 2021). ""Smooth sailing" as candidates file nomination papers". Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  11. ^ beta (4 January 2021). "Rowley, Kamla launch campaigns today as 2021 election fever begins". Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-01-17.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).