1979 Belizean general election

1979 Belizean general election
21 November 1979
All 18 seats in the House of Representatives
10 seats needed for a majority
Registered50,091
Turnout89.78% (Increase 19.20pp)
  First party Second party
 
UDP
Leader George Cadle Price Dean Lindo
Party PUP UDP
Last election 52.66%, 12 seats 38.93%, 6 seats
Seats won 13 5
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 23,309 21,045
Percentage 52.44% 47.35%
Swing Decrease 0.26 pp Increase 8.47 pp
Results by constituency
Premier before election

George Cadle Price
PUP

 Elected Premier

George Cadle Price
PUP

General elections were held in Belize, then a self-governing British Crown colony, on 21 November 1979.[1] The result was a victory for the ruling People's United Party, which ran on a platform of seeking independence from Britain as soon as possible; it won 13 of the 18 seats,[2] giving it a mandate for independence.

Background

Belize had been a crown colony of Britain, named British Honduras, since 1862.[3] In 1964, it was granted full self-governance.[3]

In 1978, a new voter registration system was implemented, including a Voter Identification Card, the voting age was lowered to 18, and the Election and Boundaries Commission was established; this election was the first after these developments.[4]

The People's United Party (PUP) went into the election with a 13–5 majority, having picked up a seat after the previous election when Toledo District Area Representative Vicente Choco crossed the floor from the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) in 1975.[5] The PUP ran on a platform of seeking independence as soon as possible, while its main rival, the UDP, wanted to delay it pending a resolution of the Guatemalan claim to the colony.[6][7][8]

Results

Voter turnout was nearly 90%.[1][9] Although the popular vote total was close, the PUP won 13 of the 18 seats, enabling George Cadle Price to retain the office of Premier of Belize and giving him a mandate for independence[6] (which was achieved less than two years later, on 21 September 1981). Price, the leader of the PUP, won the Freetown constituency by defeating Manuel Esquivel 1628 to 1514.[2] The PUP's percentage of the vote temporarily halted the party's declining hold on the voters, but in 1984 the decline resumed, and it suffered its first election defeat in thirty years.[10]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
People's United Party23,30952.4413+1
United Democratic Party21,04547.355–1
Toledo Progressive Party960.220New
Total44,450100.00180
Valid votes44,45098.84
Invalid/blank votes5211.16
Total votes44,971100.00
Registered voters/turnout50,09189.78
Source: Elections and Boundaries Department

References

  1. 1 2 Nohlen, Dieter (2005). Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6.
  2. 1 2 "General Election Results: 24th November 1979" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Department. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Belize (04/09)". United States Department of State. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Palacio, I. Myrtle (January 2021). "Evolution of Governance in Belize" (PDF). Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  5. ↑ Ramos, Adele (25 November 2014). "Bombshell: Mahmud resigns!". Amandala. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  6. 1 2 Merrill, Tim (January 1992). Guyana and Belize: country studies (PDF). Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p. 253. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  7. ↑ Appiah, Kwame Anthony; Gates Jr., Henry Louis, eds. (2005). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 420. ISBN 978-0-19-517-055-9. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Vernon, Dylan Gregory (2013). Big Game, Small Town: Clientelism and Democracy in the Modern Politics of Belize (1954 to 2011) (PDF) (Thesis). pp. 61–62. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "General Elections 1979" (PDF). Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  10. ↑ Palacio, Myrtle (1993). Who and What in Belizean Elections: 1954–1993. Glessima Research. p. 11. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
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