Governor-General of Barbados

The governor-general of Barbados was the representative of the Barbadian monarch from independence in 1966 until the establishment of a republic in 2021. Under the government's Table of Precedence for Barbados, the governor-general of Barbados was regarded as being the most important of all personnel of the Barbados government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The office was established by Chapter IV of the 1966 Constitution of Barbados.<ref>Constitution, Chapter IV</ref> The governor-general was appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister of Barbados.<ref>Constitution, Chapter IV, Section 28(1)</ref><ref>Constitution, Chapter IV, Section 32</ref> The governor-general exercised the monarch's executive powers and gave assent to bills in the monarch's name, promulgating them as laws.<ref>Constitution, Chapter V, Section 58(1)</ref> The powers of the monarch and the governor-general were limited, and they, in most instances, exercised authority on the advice of the prime minister or other persons or bodies within Barbados.<ref>Constitution, Chapter IV, Section 32</ref>

The office of the governor-general was established when Barbados gained independence in 1966. Since then, Barbados had eight governors-general. On 30 November 2021, Barbados became a republic and the office of governor-general was abolished.

Duties

The Barbadian monarch, on the advice of her Barbadian prime minister, appointed a governor-general to be her representative in Barbados.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Constitution, Chapter VI, Part 1; Section 28</ref> Both the monarch and the governor-general held much power in the country, though it was rarely used unilaterally; it was usually only used in such a way in emergencies and in some cases war.<ref>Constitution, Chapter III, Part 15; Section 25(1)(a)</ref>

The governor-general represented the monarch on ceremonial occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament and the presentation of honours and military parades. Under the constitution, the governor-general was given authority to act in some matters; for example, in appointing and disciplining officers of the civil service,<ref>The role of GG is not just ceremonial, says Arthur</ref> granting "any person convicted of any offence against the laws of Barbados a pardon",<ref>Constitution, Chapter VI, Part 2; Section 78(1)(a)</ref> and in proroguing parliament. However, in only a few cases was the governor-general empowered to act entirely on his/her own discretion, often requiring the countersignature of the prime minister to exercise their powers.

The governor-general of Barbados also chaired the Privy Council of Barbados.

List of governors-general

Following is a list of people who served as governor-general of Barbados from independence in 1966 to the establishment of a republic in 2021.

SymbolsTemplate:Note labelTemplate:Refbegin

Template:Note Died in office.

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Monarch (Reign)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		John Montague Stow (1911–1997)	30 November 1966	18 May 1967	169 days	Elizabeth II (1966–2021)
2		Arleigh Winston Scott (1900–1976)	18 May 1967	9 August 1976Template:Ref label	9 years, 82 days
–		William Douglas (1921–2003) Template:Small	9 August 1976	17 November 1976	100 days
3		Deighton Lisle Ward (1909–1984)	17 November 1976	9 January 1984Template:Ref label	7 years, 53 days
–		William Randolph Douglas (1921–2003) Template:Small	10 January 1984	24 February 1984	45 days
4		Hugh Springer (1913–1994)	24 February 1984	6 June 1990	6 years, 104 days
5		Nita Barrow (1916–1995)	6 June 1990	19 December 1995Template:Ref label	5 years, 195 days
–		Denys Williams (1929–2014) Template:Small	19 December 1995	1 June 1996	165 days
6		Clifford Husbands (1926–2017)	1 June 1996	31 October 2011	15 years, 151 days
–		Elliott Belgrave (b. 1931) Template:Small	1 November 2011	30 May 2012	211 days
–		Sandra Mason (b. 1949) Template:Small	30 May 2012	1 June 2012	2 days
7		Elliott Belgrave (b. 1931)	1 June 2012	30 June 2017	5 years, 29 days
–		Philip Greaves (b. 1931) Template:Small	1 July 2017	8 January 2018	191 days
8		Sandra Mason (b. 1949)	8 January 2018	30 November 2021	Template:Age in years and days

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late

Colors =

 id:official value:gray(0.65) legend: Official
 id:acting  value:dullyellow legend: Acting
 id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1966 till:01/01/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1966 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1966

Legend = columns:1 left:205 top:35 columnwidth:75

BarData=

 bar:Stow
 bar:Scott
 bar:Douglas(acting)
 bar:Ward
 bar:Douglas(acting)2
 bar:Springer
 bar:Barrow
 bar:Williams
 bar:Husbands
 bar:Belgrave(acting)
 bar:Mason(acting)
 bar:Belgrave
 bar:Greaves(acting)
 bar:Mason

PlotData=

 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Stow
 from: 30/11/1966 till: 18/05/1967 color:official  text:"John Stow" fontsize:10
bar:Scott
 from: 18/05/1967 till: 09/08/1976 color:official text:"Winston Scott" fontsize:10
bar:Douglas(acting)
 from: 09/08/1976 till: 17/11/1976  color:acting text:"William Douglas" fontsize:10
bar:Ward
 from: 17/11/1976 till: 09/01/1984 color:official text:"Deighton Ward" fontsize:10
bar:Douglas(acting)2
 from: 10/01/1984 till: 24/02/1984  color:acting text:"William Douglas" fontsize:10
bar:Springer
 from: 24/02/1984 till: 06/06/1990 color:official text:"Hugh Springer" fontsize:10
bar:Barrow
 from: 06/06/1990  till: 19/12/1995 color:official text:"Nita Barrow" fontsize:10 
bar:Williams
 from: 19/12/1995  till: 01/06/1996 color:acting text:"Denys Williams" fontsize:10 
bar:Husbands
 from: 01/06/1996  till: 31/10/2011 color:official text:"Clifford Husbands" fontsize:10 
bar:Belgrave(acting)
 from: 01/11/2011  till: 30/05/2012 color:acting text:"Elliot Belgrave" fontsize:10 
bar:Mason(acting)
 from: 30/05/2012 till: 01/06/2012 color:acting text:"Sandra Mason" fontsize:10 
bar:Belgrave
 from: 01/06/2012  till: 30/06/2017 color:official text:"Elliot Belgrave" fontsize:10 
bar:Greaves(acting)
 from: 01/07/2017 till: 08/01/2018 color:acting text:"Philip Greaves" fontsize:10 
bar:Mason
 from: 08/01/2018 till: 30/11/2021 color:official text:"Sandra Mason" fontsize:10 

</timeline>

Official oath of office

According to the First Schedule section of the 1966 Constitution of Barbados, the official oath of office for the governor-general of Barbados was as follows: Template:Cquote

Abolition

Template:Main In September 2020, the government of Barbados announced that it planned to abolish the Barbadian monarchy and the position of the governor-general, and the Queen of Barbados to be replaced with a ceremonial president, akin to that of the president of Trinidad and Tobago.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Incumbent governor-general Sandra Mason was elected president on 20 October 2021 and took office on 30 November 2021.

See also

• Government House, the official residence of the governor-general
• Order of Barbados
• List of governors of Barbados
• Governor-General of the West Indies Federation
• List of prime ministers of Barbados

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• About Queen Elizabeth II and her role in Barbados - Royal.uk
  • Governor General of Barbados, Our Nation, Government of Barbados