House of Representatives (Belize)

The House of Representatives of Belize is the lower chamber of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives".

House of Representatives
Type
Type	Lower house
Leadership
Speaker	Valerie Woods, PUP since December 11, 2020
Prime Minister	Johnny Briceño, PUP since November 12, 2020
Leader of the Opposition	Tracy Panton, UDP since March 14, 2025
Structure
Seats	31
Political groups	HM Government   People's United Party (26) HM Most Loyal Opposition   United Democratic Party (5)
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	12 March 2025
Meeting place
National Assembly Building of Belize Independence Hill Belmopan Belize
Website
National Assembly of Belize

Area Representatives are elected by winning a majority of votes in their respective constituencies under the first-past-the-post system. The body is directly descended from the British Honduras Legislative Assembly created in 1954 with nine elected members. It has been expanded several times since: to 18 in 1961, 28 in 1984, 29 in 1993 and finally to 31 in 2008. The leader of the majority party in the Belize House typically becomes Prime Minister of Belize.

Current members of the House of Representatives by district

The elected representatives and their constituencies according to the Elections and Boundaries Department are:

Belize District

• Caribbean Shores: Kareem Musa (PUP)
• Freetown: Francis Fonseca (PUP)
• Pickstock: Anthony Mahler (PUP)
• Fort George: Henry Charles Usher (PUP)
• Lake Independence: Cordel Hyde (PUP)
• Albert: Tracy Panton (UDP), Leader of the opposition
• Collet: Devin Daly (PUP)
• Mesopotamia: Lee Mark Chang (UDP)
• Queen's Square: Godwin Haylock (UDP)
• Port Loyola: Gilroy Usher Sr. (PUP)
• Belize Rural North: Marconi Prince Leal (PUP)
• Belize Rural South: Abner ‘Andre’ Perez (PUP)
• Belize Rural Central: Dolores Balderamos-Garcia (PUP)

Orange Walk District

• Orange Walk North: Ramon "Monchi" Cervantes (PUP)
• Orange Walk Central: Juan "Johnny" Antonio Briceño (PUP), Prime Minister
• Orange Walk East: Kevin Bernard (PUP)
• Orange Walk South: Jose Abelardo Mai (PUP)

Cayo District

• Cayo North: Michel Chebat (PUP)
• Cayo South: Julius Espat (PUP)
• Cayo West: Jorge "Milin" Espat (PUP)
• Cayo Central: Luis ‘Alex’ Balona (PUP)
• Cayo North East: Orlando Habet (PUP)
• Belmopan: Oscar Mira (PUP)

Corozal District

• Corozal North: Hugo Patt (UDP)
• Corozal South West: Ramiro Ramirez (PUP)
• Corozal Bay: Elvia Vega-Samos (PUP)
• Corozal South: Florencio Marin Jr. (PUP)

Stann Creek District

• Dangriga: Dr. Louis Zabaneh (PUP)
• Stann Creek West: Rodwell Ferguson (PUP)

Toledo District

• Toledo West: Oscar Requena (PUP)
• Toledo East: Michael Espat (PUP)

Elections

Next election

Main article: Next Belizean general election

According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the Governor-General of Belize upon the advice of the prime minister.^[1] and the election held within three months of the dissolution.^[1] The current parliament first met on Friday 13 November 2020, so the next election must be held no later than 13 February 2026.

Past elections

See also: 2020 Belizean general election

The most recent general election to the House of Representatives, held on 11 November 2020, was the 16th since 1954 when universal literate adult suffrage was introduced, and the 8th since independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. The People's United Party led by Johnny Briceño entered Government for the first time last winning in 2003. It won 26 seats, while the United Democratic Party won only 5 seats.^[2]

See also

• List of speakers of the House of Representatives of Belize