House of Representatives (Grenada)

The House of Representatives of Grenada is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral parliament. Together with the upper chamber, the Senate, it meets in the New Houses of Parliament in the capital St. George's.

The House of Representatives has a total of 16 members. 15 are directly elected to five-year terms from single member constituencies using the first-past-the-post system. Final seat is held by the Speaker of the House, who is not an elected member, but sits ex officio following their election to the post by the 15 elected members.

Although the House of Representatives does not formally elect the prime minister, under the provisions of the constitution the prime minister is answerable to the House, and therefore must maintain the support of a majority of its members. In this way, the position of the parties in the House is an overriding importance. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the governor-general appoints the person who has the support of the house, or who is most likely to command the support of the house. This being normally the leader of the largest party in the house,while the leader of the second-largest party becomes the leader of the Opposition.

The House may at any time indicate it’s lack of confidence in the government by passing a motion of no confidence. When a government has lost the confidence of the House, the prime minister is expected either to resign, making way for another MP who can command confidence, or advise the governor-general to dissolve Parliament, thereby precipitating a general election. A prime minister who does not resign or advise a dissolution within 3 days after a successful no confidence vote will be dismissed from office by the governor-general.

The constitution sets the term of Parliament as 5 years. The prime minister can, however, choose to at any earlier time advise the governor-general to dissolve Parliament.

Bills may be introduced in either house of Parliament, though bills of importance generally originate in the House of Representatives. The supremacy of the House is ensured by its sole responsibility of maintaining confidence in the government and being the only chamber where money bills can be introduced.

The House of Representatives has its origins in the colonial-era Legislative Council. A wholly-appointed body during the period of Crown Colony rule after 1877, the first elections to the Legislative Council under universal suffrage were held following constitutional reforms in 1925, which introduced 5 elected seats on the 16-member council.

The modern House of Representatives came into being in 1967 when Grenada achieved full internal self-government as an Associated State of the United Kingdom. Largely modelled on the British House of Commons, the chamber remained mostly unchanged following the grant of full independence in 1974.

The House of Representatives currently meets in the Parliament chamber at the New Houses of Parliament, which was completed in 2018. Prior to this, the House had met in the Grenada Trade Centre since 2004, following the destruction of York House, which had housed the House of Representatives and its predecessors since 1801.

• Senate of Grenada – the upper chamber of Parliament
• History of Grenada
• List of national legislatures
• List of speakers of the House of Representatives of Grenada

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