House of Assembly (Turks and Caicos Islands)

The House of Assembly is the legislature of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The name of the house was changed from the Legislative Council of the Turks and Caicos Islands to its present name following the implementation of the new constitution on 9 August 2006.

House of Assembly
Type
Type
Structure
Seats21
15 elected members
4 appointed
1 ex officio
Political groups
Government (10)
  •   PDM (10)

Opposition (5)

Others (5)

Elections
Last election
15 December 2016
Next election
2021
Meeting place
Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Turks and Caicos Islands

In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos' self-government after allegations of ministerial corruption. The prerogative of the ministerial government and the House of Assembly were vested in the islands' governor until a general election was held in November 2012.[1]

Composition

The House of Assembly has 21 members in total. Formerly, 15 members were elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies (of which 11 lay in the Caicos Islands and 4 in the Turks Islands), while 3 members sat ex officio, 3 were appointed members and a speaker was chosen from outside the house.

Although the number of elected representatives to the body was not changed during the 2009-12 suspension of self-government, the composition was changed so that ten of the 15 elected representatives are elected to individual districts, while five are now elected at-large.

Consultative Forum (2009-2012)

Following the suspension of self-government in August 2009, the Governor assembled a Consultative Forum for the Turks and Caicos Islands to advise him on legislation relating to the territory. The forum consisted of the Chief Executive, the Attorney-General, the Permanent Secretary for Finance, and eleven to fifteen representatives of the community, appointed by the Governor. The council could make non-binding recommendations to the Governor about bills that were presented to it and on policies that were referred to it.[2] The chair of the Consultative Forum was Lillian Missick.[3] The forum disbanded in November 2012 upon the election of a new House of Assembly following restoration of self-government to the islands.

Election results

General election results, 2012

Party Leader District At-large Total
seats		 +/–
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
People's Democratic MovementOswald Skippings3,16450.13415,43150.7137+5
Progressive National PartyRufus Ewing2,83344.87614,76448.5228–5
People's Progressive PartyHarold Charles3104.910–––0New
Independents40.0602330.77000
Invalid/blank votes82––––––
Total6,3931001030,4281005150
Source: TCI News, TCI News
 Summary of the 9 February 2007 Legislative Council of the Turks and Caicos Islands election results
Parties Votes % Seats +/-
Progressive National Party 3,558 59.7 13 +5
People's Democratic Movement 2,401 40.3 2 –3
Total (turnout %) 5,959 100.0 15 +2

See also

References
  1. "Britain suspends Turks and Caicos government". Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2012-02-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


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