The Antigua and BarbudaLabour Party is a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. The current leader of the party is Gaston Browne, who serves as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. The party had previously been led by Lester Bird, who was chairman of the party since 1971, and became Prime Minister and political leader in 1994. The party was founded as the Antigua Labour Party by Lester's father, V.C. Bird. The ABLP has traditionally largely been seen as the political arm of the Bird family. With the exception of five years in the 1970s, the ABLP ruled Antigua and Barbuda for over four decades. It was in opposition from 2004 to 2014, and it has been in power again since 2014 since winning a majority of the seats in the Legislature following the 2014 general election.
2004 defeat
Two major events precipitated the ABLP's first defeat in 28 years in the 2004 elections. The first was the introduction of the Electoral Commission after the 1999 election. According to international observers, the 1999 election was rife with irregularities. Most notably, the report from the Commonwealth observer group concluded that "the voting rolls appeared to be inflated" and recommended "the establishment of an independent electoral commission to improve the voter registration process." The second was the Medical Benefits Scandal. Under the watch of the ALP Government, the government of Antigua and Barbuda failed to contribute EC$120 million to cover recipients' medical expenses. The oppositionUnited Progressive Party campaigned on an anti-corruption platform they called "Government in the Sunshine." After 28 years in power, the ABLP was widely perceived to be corrupt and that corruption along with the establishment of free and fairelections in Antigua and Barbuda led to their defeat. The ABLP lost its majority in the general election held on 24 March 2004. It received 41.8% of the popular vote, but only four out of 17 seats. ABLP Prime Minister and political leader Lester Bird was also defeated in his constituency.
Leadership crisis
In early 2009, the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party faced an internal leadership crisis. The ageing Lester Bird announced that if the ABLP failed to win the forthcoming 2009 general election, he would step down. There had been speculation that even if the ABLP won the 2009 election, Bird's leadership would be challenged. Nevertheless, Bird remained the ABLP's leader. until 2012, when he was defeated by Gaston Browne in a leadership challenge.
