List of political parties in Jamaica
Encyclopedia
Jamaica
has a two-party system
, the major parties being the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party. A large number of minor parties have cropped up and disintegrated in the past, with very few (if any) actually winning seats in Parliament
. Over 46 political parties have been formed since independence
in August 1962.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
has a two-party system
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
, the major parties being the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party. A large number of minor parties have cropped up and disintegrated in the past, with very few (if any) actually winning seats in Parliament
Parliament of Jamaica
The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It is a bicameral body, composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Representatives....
. Over 46 political parties have been formed since independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
in August 1962.
Current parties
- Jamaica Labour PartyJamaica Labour PartyThe Jamaica Labour Party is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party. Despite its name, the JLP is a centre-right, conservative party.-Background:...
– Ruling democratic party - National Democratic MovementJamaican National Democratic MovementThe National Democratic Movement is a small conservative political party in Jamaica, led by Earl DeLisser. At the 16 October 2002 elections, the party won no seats as part of the New Jamaica Alliance....
– minor conservative party - New Nation Coalition – Recently formed party
- People's National PartyPeople's National PartyThe People's National Party is a social democratic and social liberal Jamaican political party, founded by Norman Manley in 1938. It is the oldest political party in the Anglophone Caribbean and one of the main two political parties in Jamaica. Out of the two major parties, it is considered more...
– main opposition party
Defunct parties
- Agricultural Industrial Party
- Coloured Party – founded in the 1820s to campaign for full civil rights; not really a political party per se.
- Farmers' Federation
- Federation of Citizen's Association
- Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Incorporated Political PartyImperial Ethiopian World Federation Incorporated Political PartyThe Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Incorporated Political Party is a political party in Jamaica. It first contested national elections in 2002, when it received just 162 votes and failed to win a seat. In the 2007 elections it won only 192 votes and remained without parliamentary representation....
- Jamaica Alliance for National Unity
- Jamaica Democratic PartyJamaica Democratic PartyThe Jamaica Democratic Party was a political party in Jamaica. It contested national elections in 1944 when it received 4.0% of the vote, but failed to win a seat. It did not contest any further elections....
- Jamaica Liberal Party
- Jamaica Radical Workers Union
- Jamaica Socialist Party
- Jamaica United PartyJamaica United PartyThe Jamaica United Party was a political party in Jamaica. It first contested national elections in 1967, but received only 163 votes and failed to win a seat. It did not contest any further elections....
– formerly the United West Indian Party - New Jamaica Alliance
- People's Political PartyPeople's Political Party (Jamaica)The People's Political Party was Jamaica's first modern political party. Formed in September 1929 by Marcus Garvey, it set out a 14 point manifesto - the first of its kind in the island's electoral history...
– Jamaica's first party, founded by Marcus GarveyMarcus GarveyMarcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
in 1929. - Progressive Labour Movement – merged with the People's Political Party soon after being founded in 1961.
- Republican Party of Jamaica
- National Labour PartyNational Labour Party (Jamaica)The National Labour Party was a political party in Jamaica, founded by Ken Hill. Hill had been expelled from the People's National Party in 1952, accused of having advocated communism. The NLP ran three candidates in the 1955 general election; Ken Hill contested Kingston Western, getting 3,262 votes...
- United Party of JamaicaUnited Party of JamaicaThe United Party of Jamaica was a political party in Jamaica. It contested national elections in 1949, but received only 0.2% of the vote and failed to win a seat. It did not contest any further elections....
- Workers Party of JamaicaWorkers Party of JamaicaThe Workers Party of Jamaica was a Marxist political party in Jamaica. WPJ was founded on 17 December 1978, by Trevor Munroe, along with Elean Thomas and others. Munroe, a Rhodes scholar from Oxford University, served as its general secretary. The forerunner of WPJ was the Workers Liberation...
– defunct Marxist party - United People's PartyUnited People's Party (Jamaica)The United People's Party was a political party in Jamaica. It first contested national elections in 2002, but received only 548 votes and failed to win a seat. It did not contest any further elections....
See also
- Politics of JamaicaPolitics of JamaicaThe Politics of Jamaica takes place in a framework of a representative parliamentary democratic monarchy. The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the prime...
- List of political parties by country