Tobago House of Assembly
12th Assembly
Emblem of the Tobago House of Assembly
Flag of the Tobago House of Assembly
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Presiding Officer	Abby Taylor since 9 December 2021
Chief Secretary	Farley Chavez Augustine, TPP since 9 December 2021
Minority Leader	Kelvon Morris, PNM since 9 December 2021
Structure
Seats	15
Political groups	Government  Tobago People's Party (13) Opposition  Progressive Democratic Patriots (1)  People's National Movement (1)
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	6 December 2021
Meeting place
Assembly Legislative Chambers, Jermingham Street,Scarborough,Tobago,Trinidad and Tobago
Website
https://www.tha.gov.tt/

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TheTobago House of Assembly (THA) is aunicameraldevolvedlegislative body responsible for the island ofTobago within theunitary state ofTrinidad and Tobago. The THA was re-established in 1980^[1] to rectify some of the disparities in the relationship between the two islands; a prior body of the same name existed from 1768 to 1874.^[2] In addition to the normal local government functions, the THA handles many of the responsibilities of thecentral government, but has limited ability to collect taxes and to impose local law or zoning regulations. At the helm of the Assembly Legislature is the Presiding Officer with the fifteen elected assemblymen, and four appointed councillors. Three of the councillors are appointed on the advice on the Chief Secretary and one on the advice of the Minority Leader. The Chief Secretary is the leader of the majority party in the assembly and is at the helm of the Executive arm of the THA.^[3]

The current Chief Secretary of Tobago is Farley Chavez Augustine who is the second youngest Chief Secretary in history, in office since December 6, 2021. He was elected as a member of thePDP but left the party to first become anindependent in 2022, then later setting up his own political party theTobago People's Party.

The firstTHA elections were held onNovember 24, 1980. TheDemocratic Action Congress led byA.N.R. Robinson won eight seats and thePeople's National Movement (PNM) won four seats (a reversal of the1977 County Council elections in which the PNM won seven seats and the DAC 4). The DAC went on to win the1984 elections by a margin of 11–1 over the PNM. TheNational Alliance for Reconstruction (into which the DAC merged in 1986) continued to dominate the THA winning the1988 elections, and the1992 elections by an 11-1 margin over the PNM. It won the1996 elections by a margin of 10–2, with the PNM and an independent candidate winning one seat each.

In the2001 elections the PNM gained control of the THA, winning 8 seats to the NAR's four. The PNM consolidated their hold on the THA in theJanuary 2005 elections winning 11 seats while the DAC (which reformed after splintering from the NAR in 2004) gained a single seat.

In the2009 elections held on January 19, 2009, the PNM won 8 seats while a new party, theTobago Organization of the People won 4 seats.^[4]

In the2013 elections, the TOP was defeated in a landslide by the PNM, losing the 4 seats it held previously, giving the PNM complete control of the THA.^[5] However, Chief Secretary Orville London askedPrime MinisterKamla Persad-Bissessar to introduce a bill in the country's parliament that would change the country's constitution to allow thePresident of the Republic to choose two independent councillors at his/her discretion to serve as opposition in the THA in the event of a 12-0 election result.^[6]

As of 2021, the THA employed about 60% of Tobago's working population.^[7]

The Assembly was expanded to 15 members from theDecember 2021 election.^[8]

In December 2022, 13 members of thePDP left the party to govern as independents in 2022, and in 2023 set up theTobago People's Party.^[9][10]

Election Year		Chairman		Summary	PNM	DAC	Independent	Total seats
1st	1980	A. N. R. Robinson (1926-2014)		DAC wins control of the House of Assembly underA. N. R. Robinson, forming the first Tobagonian government.	4	8		12
Election Year		Chairman		Summary	PNM	DAC	Independent	Total seats
2nd	1984	A. N. R. Robinson (1926-2014)		DAC forms another government underA. N. R. Robinson. The DAC merges with other political parties to form theNAR.	1	11		12
Election Year		Chairman		Summary	PNM	NAR	Independent	Total seats
3rd	1988	Jefferson Davidson (c. 1938-2023)		NAR forms another government under Jefferson Davidson.	1	11		12
Election Year		Chairman		Summary	PNM	NAR	Independent	Total seats
4th	1992	Lennox Denoon (1930–2007)		NAR forms another government under Lennox Denoon.	1	11		12
Election Year		Chairman		Summary	PNM	NAR	Independent	Total seats
5th	1996	Hochoy Charles (1946–2023)		NAR forms another government under Hochoy Charles.	1	10	1	12
Election Year		Chief Secretary		Summary	PNM	NAR	Independent	Total seats
6th	2001	Orville London (1945– )		PNM forms its first government under Orville London.	8	4		12
Election Year		Chief Secretary		Summary	PNM	DAC	Independent	Total seats
7th	2005	Orville London (1945– )		PNM forms another government under Orville London.	11	1		12
Election Year		Chief Secretary		Summary	PNM	TOP	Independent	Total seats
8th	2009	Orville London (1945– )		PNM forms another government under Orville London.	8	4		12
Election Year		Chief Secretary		Summary	PNM	TOP	Independent	Total seats
9th	2013	Orville London (1945– )		PNM forms another government under Orville London.	12	0		12
Election Year		Chief Secretary		Summary	PNM	PDP	Independent	Total seats
10th	2017	Kelvin Charles (1957– ) Ancil Dennis (1987– )		PNM forms another government under Kelvin Charles.	10	2		12
Election Year		Chief Secretary		Summary	PNM	PDP	Independent	Total seats
11th	2021 (January)	Ancil Dennis (1987– )		First deadlock in the history of the assembly.PNM forms acaretaker government under Ancil Dennis.	6	6		12
Election Year		Chief Secretary		Summary	PNM	PDP	Independent	Total seats
12th	2021 (December)	Farley Chavez Augustine (1985– )		PDP forms its first government under Farley Chavez Augustine.	1	14		15

• Chief Secretary of Tobago
• List of Presiding Officers of the Tobago House of Assembly
• Local government in Trinidad and Tobago
• Politics of Trinidad and Tobago

• Official website

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