Trinidad and Tobago

Senate

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Parliament
Chamber name
Senate
Structure & status of parliament
Upper chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
5

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 2011
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC)

Speaker

Official title
President of the Senate
Speaker
Nigel de Freitas (Male)
Date of birth: 20 Sep 1979
Term
18 Jan 2023
Additional information

Elected on 18 Jan. 2023.

Speaker terms

Click for historical data

Secretary general

Official title
Acting Clerk
Secretary General
Chantal La Roche (Female)
Term
13 May 2024

Members

Statutory number of members
32

Notes:

Appointed by the Head of State.

The President of the Senate may be designated from outside parliament and becomes a member of parliament by virtue of holding the office of President.

Principal mode of designation of members
Appointed
Appointed members
31
Other members
1
Current number of members
32
Men
19
Women
13
Percentage of women
40.6%
Statutory number of members per country
74
Population (in thousands)
1,502
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
20,297

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
53.6
(2020-08)
Youngest member
Avinash Singh (Male)
Youngest member (years)
31
Oldest member
Hazel Thompson-Ahye (Female)
Oldest member (years)
71
Number of members, by age (2020-08)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 0 1 3 2 8 4 0 0 0 18
Female 0 0 5 0 0 2 5 1 0 0 13
Totals per age interval 0 0 6 3 2 10 9 1 0 0 31
Total <= 45: 9 Total >= 46: 22
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
19.4% 3% 16.1%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
29.0% 13% 16.1%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
No
Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No