House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago)
The House of Representatives is the elected lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, along with the President and Senate of Trinidad and Tobago. The House of Representatives sits at the Red House. It has 41 members, each elected to represent single-seat constituencies. The Parliament is elected with a five-year term, but may be dissolved earlier by the President if so advised by the Prime Minister.
House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago | |
|---|---|
| 12th Republican Parliament | |
  | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Deputy Speaker | |
Leader of Government Business | |
Opposition Chief Whip | David A. Lee, UNC since 23 September 2015 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 41 21 or (20 plus the Speaker of the House of Representatives) for a majority |
 | |
Political groups | Government |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post | |
Last election | 10 August 2020 |
Next election | 2025 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| The Red House, Abercromby Street, Downtown, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago | |
After an election, the person commanding the support of the most members of the House is appointed Prime Minister and asked to form a government.
Five constituencies were added in the 2007 election; there were only 36 constituencies prior to 2007. There are now 41 constituencies.
The Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House, who can either be one of the elected 41 members, or come from outside. This has implications for the calculation of special majority votes (42 members instead of 41).
As of 20 April 2021, there are only 12 female members (28.6%),[2] and three members born in Tobago (7.3%).
Election 2020
edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |
| People's National Movement | 322,250 | 49.08 | –2.60 | 22 | –1 | |
| United National Congress | 309,188 | 47.09 | +7.48 | 19 | +2 | |
| Progressive Democratic Patriots | 10,367 | 1.58 | New | 0 | New | |
| Progressive Empowerment Party | 5,933 | 0.90 | New | 0 | New | |
| Independent Liberal Party | 3,817 | 0.58 | –0.12 | 0 | 0 | |
| Movement for Social Justice | 1,223 | 0.19 | New | 0 | New | |
| Movement for National Development | 1,039 | 0.16 | New | 0 | New | |
| COP–DPTT–TTDF | 524 | 0.08 | –5.93 | 0 | –1 | |
| New National Vision | 493 | 0.08 | –0.04 | 0 | 0 | |
| Trinidad Humanity Campaign | 366 | 0.06 | +0.04 | 0 | 0 | |
| National Organisation of We the People | 310 | 0.05 | New | 0 | New | |
| National Coalition for Transformation | 234 | 0.04 | –0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
| Progressive Party | 211 | 0.03 | New | 0 | New | |
| One Tobago Voice | 80 | 0.01 | New | 0 | New | |
| Unrepresented Peoples Party | 73 | 0.01 | New | 0 | New | |
| Unity of the People | 40 | 0.01 | New | 0 | New | |
| The National Party | 23 | 0.00 | New | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 351 | 0.05 | –0.27 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 656,522 | 100.00 | – | 41 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 656,522 | 99.73 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,775 | 0.27 | ||||
| Total votes | 658,297 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,134,135 | 58.04 | ||||
| Source: EBCTT, IPU | ||||||
Current members of Parliament
edit| Office | Name | Party Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speaker of the House of Representatives |  The Honourable Bridgid Annisette-George
|
PNM | 9 September 2015 |
Notes and references
edit- ^ Annisette-George was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives under the nomination of the PNM. However, the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is officially one without political affiliation.[1]
- ^ "Trinidad and Tobago Parliament". www.ttparliament.org. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Monthly ranking of women in national parliaments". Parline: the IPU’s Open Data Platform. Retrieved 2021-04-21.