Question 2:
Explain how the 1962 general election and the 1964 Constitutional changes influenced the results of the 1967 general election? (15 marks)

The 1962 General Election and the 1964 Constitutional changes influenced the results of the 1967 General Election greatly. On this part of my coursework I’ll be discussing how the 1962 General Election and the 1964 constitutional changes that greatly influenced the 1967 General Election. General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 1962, the first under universal suffrage. Whilst the Progressive Liberal Party won the most votes, the United Bahamian Party won the most seats, largely as a result of gerrymandering. The Progressive Liberal Party also had some more causes of their lose in the General election in 1962. The UBP was credited with giving women the right to vote Changes within the UBP itself; Geoffrey Johnstone was appointed party chairman, Roland Symonette stepped down as leader for the government in the house and was replaced by Canadian-born Donald D'Albenas, a person with a less hard-line Conchy Joe and Bay Street image. The UBP also decided at last to allow the breaking of three gaps in Collins Wall. The UBP played the race card: that blacks were incapable of government and were naturally prone to violence. They also tapped into the ingrained sense of inferiority still lingering among Afro-Bahamians, especially in the Out Islands where the whites retained an almost feudal hold. The UBP targeted many Bahamians employed by white Bahamians especially black women, suggesting that they might lose their jobs if they voted for the Progressive Liberal Party.
Despite a vigorous campaign, the PLP lost badly to the UBP in the 1962 general election; the party attributed its overwhelming defeat to unfair electoral boundaries. Despite the PLP defeat, however, the UBP could not impede the process of political change in the Bahamas. Steps toward internal self-government proceeded under the UBP as party leader Sir Roland Symonette became the country's first premier (the preindependence title for prime minister) in 1964.
(Pindling: The Life and Times of the first Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Michael Craton)

Another huge factor of the 1967 General election results was the 1964 Constitutional changes which were, the representatives of the UBP and PLP and with Members of the Legislative Council to discuss the implementation of the system of ministerial self-government with which had been advocated by all parties in the election. Sandy’s arranged a formal constitutional conference, which was held at the Colonial Office in London in May, 1963. No less than 19 delegates attend the Governor and Solicitor General, the President and two other Members of the Legislative Council, the Speaker of the Assembly and seven members of the UBP, four members of the PLP, two Independent MHAs and the leader of the Labor Party. The PLP representatives, Pindling, Adderley, Turn quest and Hanna, may have been chosen because they were the four PLP lawyers in the House and regarded as the intellectual heavyweights in the party. Remarkably, all were in their early 30s. Before this meeting England dealt with this matters. Other changes to the Constitution was The Legislative Council was reconstituted as a Senate of 15 nominated members, each holding tenure for ten years. Constituting the upper house in the traditional British bicameral pattern, its powers were limited much as those of the House of Lords had been, simply to request amendments and to delay legislation for maximum of 15 months. Five Senators were to be nominated on the advice of the Premier and two on the advice of the leader of the opposition. The other eight who possibly could form a majority were to be appointed by the Governor after consultation with the Premier and any other such persons as in his discretion he may decide to consult. The Executive Council was to be abolished in favor of a Cabinet of Ministers responsible to the majority party in the elected House of Assembly. The Attorney General, however, was to remain an important official, along with a Chief Secretary (formerly Colonial Secretary) and a Secretary of the Cabinet, of whom at least the latter two were expected to be British experts for an interim period. The Cabinet, consisting of at least nine Ministers, was to be headed and chosen by the leader of the majority party in the house, who was to be styled Premier. After the 1962 General Elections, the UBP soon moved towards internal self-government, which all progressive Bahamians desired. This move saw a need for constitutional reform.
Mr. Duncan Sandys, met with representatives of the UBP and PLP and with Members of the Legislative Council to discuss the implementation of the system of ministerial self-government with which had been advocated by all parties in the election. Sandys arranged a formal constitutional conference, which was held at the Colonial Office in London in May, 1963. No less than 19 delegates attended: the Governor and Solicitor General, the President and two other Members of the Legislative Council, the Speaker of the Assembly and seven members of the UBP, four members of the PLP, two Independent MHAs and the leader of the Labour Party. The PLP representatives, Pindling, Adderley, Turnquest and Hanna, may have been chosen because they were the four PLP lawyers in the House and regarded as the intellectual heavyweights in the party. Remarkably, all were in their early 30s.
Fifteen meetings were spread over three weeks. There was substantial agreement on the major issues, but much fine-tuning.
From 1964, the British Government would retain the control of foreign affairs defence, internal security and any further changes in the constitution. Safeguards were installed to protect the tenure and independence of the judiciary, civil service and police, and provisions were installed against discrimination "on grounds of race, membership of a particular community, place of origin or political opinion" (though, perhaps inadvertently, not on grounds of gender). The Governor would be involved in exercising the powers reserved to the British Government and have discretion in nominating certain officials and some members of an upper house, but otherwise he would have no more executive power than the Queen did in the United Kingdom. As in the UK, parliament could only be dissolved short of its normal term by the special request of the chief minister, either in seeking a new mandate on a major issue, or on the defeat of his party in a Vote of No Confidence. The Executive Council was to be abolished in favour of a Cabinet of Ministers responsible to the majority party in the elected House of Assembly. The Attorney General, however, was to remain an important official, along with a Chief Secretary (formerly Colonial Secretary) and a Secretary of the Cabinet, of whom at least the latter two were expected to be British experts for an interim period. The Cabinet, consisting of at least nine Ministers, was to be headed and chosen by the leader of the majority party in the house, who was to be styled Premier - a role which Donald D'Albenas was willingly to turn over to the far more experienced and distinguished Roland Symonette.
The Legislative Council was reconstituted as a Senate of 15 nominated members, each holding tenure for ten years. Constituting the upper house in the traditional British bicameral pattern, its powers were limited much as those of the House of Lords had been, simply to request amendments and to delay legislation for a maximum of 15 months. Five Senators were to be nominated on the advice of the Premier and two on the advice of the leader of the opposition. The other eight (who possibly could form a majority) were to be appointed by the Governor after consultation with the Premier and any other such persons as in his discretion he may decide to consult."
As chief spokesman for the PLP, Lynden Pindling put in a strong dissenting plea on four significant points. The PLP won on only one of these, the abolition of the property qualification for voters. They were unsuccessful in their attempt to reduce the nominating powers of the Governor, to effect an immediate redistribution of constituencies in strict proportion to the number of voters, and in their demand for the abolition of all multiple-member constituencies. The House of Assembly was to continue to consist of 33 Members from the existing 17 constituencies throughout the present term (that is, until 1967). It would then be increased by five Members. These would presumably be allocated to New Providence, but their actual distribution and other related matters were left for the deliberations of a Constituencies Commission, which was bound to be strongly influenced by the UBP. The problem of drawing up an up-to-date and accurate registry of voters was also left up in the air.
MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS: 1965
Delegation included: Mr. Lynden Pindling, Mr. Cecil V. Wallace-Whitfield, Mr. Clarence A. Bain, Mr. Milo B. Butler, Mr. Arthur D. Hanna, Mr. Arthur A. Foulkes, Dr. Doris Johnson and Dr. H. W. Brown
Issues raised:
• Trade unions hampered by coercive and restrictive legislation
• Improved social conditions
• Corrupt practices of UBP Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament
• Unfair tax system
• Inadequate educational system
• Unfair distribution of seats/Inequality in representation (gerrymandering)
The burning issue which concerned Pindling and the PLP, however, was the redistribution of the constituencies which the UBP was in the process of managing, and the related problem of getting an accurate and complete registry of voters before the next election. As expected, the extra five seats allowed for in the new constitution were all allocated to New Providence, giving the metropolitan island a ratio against the Out Islands of 17 seats to 21. This was an increase in the percentage of total seats from 36 to 45. Yet by now New Providence contained more than 60 per cent of the Bahamian population. The Out Islands continued to be almost doubly as well-represented as New Providence.
Even more objectionable was the juggling that the Constituencies Commission had done with the constituencies themselves to the advantage of the UBP. Two and three-seat constituencies were to continue in the UBP strongholds of Abaco, Eleuthera, Harbour Island, Long Island and Exuma. But instead of the existing six double-seat constituencies, each of the 17 New Providence MHAs would be drawn from a single-seat constituency. With similar intentions of splitting up proven PLP strongholds, the double-seat constituency of Andros was divided into three single-seat constituencies, and Grand Bahama's representation doubled from one to two by the creation of a single-seat constituency for West End and Bimini. Cat Island was to lose one of its two seats, but the even more over-represented (and notoriously easily manipulated) San Salvador, Crooked Island and Inagua each retained their single seats.
At the same time, the process of drawing up a new voters registry was working very much to the advantage of the regime. The procedures were thorough but complicated, and therefore slow. The Constituencies Commission accordingly had to make its boundary adjustments long before it could have had a full and accurate count, and its UBP members at least were happy to do so. Also, for one reason or another, people likely to be UBP supporters were more easily and quickly registered than those in the poorer and more crowded districts from which the PLP drew its greatest support. The PLP leaders accused the UBP government of a calculated policy of delay and obfuscation. This, they claimed, was designed to ensure not only an unfair measure of UBP support in the new constituencies, but that many potential PLP voters would not be on the rolls in time for the general election - especially, as seemed increasingly likely, the UBP brought the election date forward.
The Constituencies Commission report was issued on February 4, 1965.
Sources
(Pindling: The Life and Times of the first Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Michael Craton)
(The Vision of Sir Lynden Pindling In His Own Words, Patricia Beardsley Roker)

The influence of the 1962 General Election and the 1964 Constitutional changes was significant in the results of the 1967 General election here are some ways. Firstly Constitutional reforms brought self-government to The Bahamas which means we aren’t no longer under British rule so we can create and change the government system allowing it to better suit our country’s needs also being under Britain made some people feel like they were inferior and couldn’t really have a superb Democracy. One of the major constitutional changes that helped the results of the 1967 General election was the property qualifier which meant at the time if you owned no land you weren’t able to vote. Many black Bahamians didn’t have any land so they weren’t able to vote. Meaning the minority of the country the whites would win the election almost every time because of this.
Another factor of the results of the 1967 General election was during the Women Suffrage movement was taking place. Which added a great number of voters to the population of the Bahamas increasing the chances of the PLP. The PLP and the Independents in the House of Assembly made a report to further boost the women’s right to vote. An appeal was made to the House of Commons in England again. On February 23, 1961 a Bill to enable women to vote was enacted with effect from June 30, 1962. Bahamian women voted for the first time on November 26, 1962. In 1967 the female population in the Bahamas was 77,432 and with majority of them voting PLP this resulted in outcome of the 1967 General election.
In conclusion all of the constitutional changes and with the help of the women’s suffrage act help produce the results of the 1967 General election.