About the election
Short description of the context and results of the election.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne's Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) won a second consecutive election, taking 15 of the 17 seats at stake in the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister's wife, Ms. Maria Bird-Browne - granddaughter of the nation's founding father, Sir Vere Cornwall Bird - was elected to parliament for the first time. At 26, she is the youngest MP in the country's history. On 26 March, Mr. Browne was sworn in for a second term as Prime Minister. The newly appointed 17-member Senate comprises nine women (52.94%) up from 5 (33.33%) in 2014.
The 2018 elections were held 15 months before they were constitutionally due in June 2019. The Prime Minister stated he needed "to provide investors with predictability, to prove stability, to provide continuity". The major parties focused on the economy and the tourism industry. The ABLP ran on the government's record while the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), now led by former finance minister Harold Lovell, accused the government of mismanagement.