West Indies Federal Elections
Dissolved 1962AS OF 2026-09-08 · 1 CONTESTS · federal election, 25 March 1958 · WIKIPEDIA, NATIONAL ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES
Next election · none: dissolved 31 May 1962 · Capital · Port of Spain in the metro rankings →
The West Indies Federation held one election, on 25 March 1958, across ten British Caribbean territories from Jamaica to Trinidad and Tobago. The West Indies Federal Labour Party won 25 of 45 seats against the Democratic Labour Party's 19, and Grantley Adams of Barbados became the Federation's only Prime Minister. The Federation dissolved on 31 May 1962, four years and two months later, without holding a second.
Source: Wikipedia election articles · as of 2026-09-08
House seats
45
across ten territories, Jamaica to Trinidad
Elections held
1
25 March 1958, the Federation's only one
Latest
1958
West Indies Federal Labour Party largest · Grantley Herbert Adams
The chronology
The one election the West Indies Federation ever held, 25 March 1958. The Federation dissolved a little over four years later, before a second could be called.
The Federation's only election · 1958
Ten British Caribbean territories, from Jamaica to Trinidad and Tobago, elected a single federal House of Representatives on 25 March 1958, the West Indies Federal Labour Party winning 25 of its 45 seats against the Democratic Labour Party's 19 and a single seat for the Barbados National Party. Grantley Adams of Barbados became the Federation's first and only Prime Minister, chosen over Norman Manley and Eric Williams, the premiers of Jamaica and Trinidad, neither of whom had stood for a federal seat and so were ineligible for the post.
The long arc in charts
Hover any point for the exact figure.
Turnout
No turnout figure is recorded for the Federation's only election; the source gives seats won, not votes or turnout.
No figures on file for this chart.
The largest party's vote share
No vote share is recorded either: the source's results table gives each party's seats only, so this line has no points to plot.
No figures on file for this chart.
Records & superlatives
Most seats won
25
West Indies Federal Labour Party, 1958
Only election held
25 March 1958
The West Indies Federation's first and last election.
Largest territorial delegation
17 of 45 seats
Jamaica, including the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, returned more members than any other territory.
How West Indian elections work
Ten territories, one House
Every unit territory of the Federation, from Antigua to Trinidad and Tobago, elected members to a single 45-seat House of Representatives; Jamaica alone returned 17 of them, elected across its parishes and three counties.
Two Federation-wide parties, built from island parties
The West Indies Federal Labour Party and the Democratic Labour Party were both organised by Jamaican politicians, Norman Manley and Alexander Bustamante, as confederations of each territory's existing local party.
A Prime Minister who was not the obvious choice
Grantley Adams of Barbados became Prime Minister on a 23-21 vote in the House rather than Norman Manley or Eric Williams, the premiers of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, because neither had contested a federal seat and both were staying in control of their own island governments instead.
A federation that did not survive to a second election
The Federation dissolved on 31 May 1962, four years and two months after its only election, as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago moved toward independence on their own.