Today marks the 54th anniversary of the Progressive Liberal Party’s landslide victory in the 1968 General Election.
On April 10, 1968, 38 seats in the House of Assembly were contested, with the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) winning 29 seats, the United Bahamian Party (UBP) winning seven seats, the Labour Party winning one seat - thanks to Randol Fawkes - and one seat being won by independent candidate, Alvin Braynen.
The PLP captured 66 percent of votes with over 29,000 people casting their ballot in support of the party.
85 percent of eligible voters participated in the General Election.
It was the first election in which the PLP won the majority of seats in an election, returning Sir Lynden Pindling as Premier of the Bahamas.
The party’s first victory on its own came one year after the PLP formed a coalition government to beat the UBP in the 1967 General Election.
That year, both the PLP and the UBP won 18 seats. The PLP looked to Fawkes and Braynen to break the tie.
Following its shocking defeat in 1968, the UBP joined forces with the Free Progressive Liberal Party and formed the Free National Movement (FNM).
The PLP would hold onto control of the government until its defeat at the hands of the Hubert Ingraham-led FNM in 1992.
The PLP was returned to office in 2002 under the leadership of Perry Christie, who lost the 2007 election only to return to power five years later in 2012.
Following a four-year stint under Hubert Minnis and the FNM from 2017 to 2021, the PLP is the current government of The Bahamas under the leadership of Philip “Brave” Davis.