House of Assembly of Saint Lucia

The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Saint Lucia, elected by popular vote. The upper house is the Senate. It has 17 or 18 members: 17 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies, and a speaker elected by the 17 members, who may be one of their number or a person chosen from outside the House.^[1][2] To be elected to the house, a person must be at least 21 years old.

House of Assembly of Saint Lucia Chambre d'assemblée de Sainte-Lucie
12th Saint Lucian Parliament
Type
Type	Lower House of the Parliament of Saint Lucia
History
Founded	March 1, 1967 (1967-03-01)
Leadership
Speaker	Claudius Francis, SLP since 17 August 2021
Prime Minister	Philip J. Pierre, SLP since 28 July 2021
Leader of the Opposition	Allen Chastanet, UWP since 28 July 2021
Structure
Seats	17 MPs
House political groups	His Majesty's Government   SLP (13)   Independent (2) HM Loyal Opposition   UWP (2)
Elections
House voting system	First-past-the-post
Last House election	26 July 2021
Next House election	2026
Meeting place
Website
parliament.govt.lc

History

House of Assembly was established in 1967 when associated statehood was attained. It replaced the legislative council.^[3]

Relationship with the government

Section 60 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia requires the prime minister of Saint Lucia to be a member of the House of Assembly. It provides for the governor-general to "appoint a member of the House who appears to him likely to command the support of the majority of the members of the House" and for the office to fall vacant if the prime minister ceases to be a member of the House of Assembly for any reason other than the dissolution of parliament.^[4]

Latest general election

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Saint Lucia Labour Party	43,799	50.14	13	+7
	United Workers Party	37,481	42.91	2	–9
	National Green Party	271	0.31	0	New
	Independents	5,807	6.65	2	+2
Total		87,358	100.00	17	0
Valid votes		87,358	98.10
Invalid/blank votes		1,694	1.90
Total votes		89,052	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		174,332	51.08
Source: Electoral Department

Current composition

Following the election of 26 July 2021, the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia comprises the following members:

Constituency	Name	Party
Gros Islet	Kenson Casimir	SLP
Babonneau	Virginia Poyotte
Castries East	Philip J. Pierre
Castries South	Ernest Hilaire
Castries South East	Joachim Henry
Anse la Raye and Canaries	Wayne Girard
Soufriere	Emma Hippolyte
Laborie	Alva Baptiste
Vieux Fort North	Moses Jean Baptiste
Vieux Fort South	Kenny Anthony
Micoud North	Jeremiah Norbert
Dennery South	Alfred Prospere
Dennery North	Shawn Edward
Micoud South	Allen Chastanet	UWP
Choiseul	Bradley Felix
Castries Central	Richard Frederick	IND
Castries North	Stephenson King

Constituencies

Electoral boundaries of Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia has 17 electoral segments, each of which elects one Parliamentary Representative to the House of Assembly:^[5]

District	Constituencies
Gros Islet	Gros Islet, Castries North, Babonneau
Castries	Babonneau, Castries East, Castries South, Castries South East, Castries North
Anse la Raye	Anse la Raye and Canaries
Canaries	Anse la Raye and Canaries
Soufrière	Soufrière
Laborie	Laborie
Vieux Fort	Vieux Fort North, Vieux Fort South
Micoud	Micoud North, Micoud South, Vieux Fort North, Dennery South
Dennery	Dennery South, Dennery North
Choiseul	Choiseul

See also

• List of speakers of the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia
• Districts of Saint Lucia