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All 31 seats in theHouse of Representatives 16 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 64.97% ( 16.89pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Belize portal |
General elections were held inBelize on 12 March 2025 to elect the 31 members of theHouse of Representatives.[1] The incumbent government under thePeople's United Party (PUP) won a second term in office against a divided oppositionUnited Democratic Party (UDP).
Theprevious general elections were held on 11 November 2020, and the new National Assembly was opened on 11 December 2020.[2] According to Section 84 of theConstitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by theGovernor-General of Belize upon the advice of the prime minister.[3] A general election must be called within three months of a dissolution, which meant the latest possible date for the next Belizean general election would be 11 March 2026.[2]
At the beginning of 2025, Prime MinisterJohnny Briceño indicated that elections would be called in the first half of the year.[4] In February, Trinidadian senior counsel and former Attorney General,Anand Ramlogan, formally requested on behalf of his clients that the government refrain from calling an election until it carried out a redistricting exercise.[5] On 11 February, Briceño called the elections for 12 March, with Nominations Day on 24 February.[1] The Writ of Election was formally filed by theGovernor-General immediately afterwards.[6] TheHigh Court later dismissed the claim, allowing the election to proceed.[7] While the case was appealed to the Court of Appeal, theCaribbean Court of Justice denied a request for special leave, ruling that it lacked merit.[8] Ramlogan later withdrew the appeal on the request of his clients.[9]
The rulingPUP sought to form the next government after having won a landslide 26 seats in 2020. Incumbent Prime MinisterJohnny Briceño ofOrange Walk Central lead the PUP into his second election as party leader. The PUP had won 65 out of 67 municipal seats in the2021 municipal elections and defended 61 of them in2024. The PUP was also victorious in the two parliamentary by-elections that took place following the 2020 election.Elvia Vega-Samos successfully heldCorozal Bay in the 3 March 2021 by-election following the death of her brother, David Vega, from COVID-19.[10]Osmond Martinez also heldToledo East in the 17 July 2024 by-election following the death ofMichael Espat.[11]
For the first time in Belize’s history, two of the PUP’s candidates,Anthony Mahler ofPickstock andHenry Charles Usher ofFort George, were automatically declared the winner of their respective divisions due to the lack of challengers on Nominations Day.[12]
Following a landslide loss in 2020, theUDP faced turbulent circumstances in opposition. The UDP held on to only 2 municipal seats in the 2021 municipal elections while also losing the Corozal Bay by-election on the same day. Party LeaderPatrick Faber ofCollet was temporarily stripped of his role asLeader of the Opposition and replaced withMoses “Shyne” Barrow ofMesopotamia after a video of what appeared to be Faber involved in a domestic dispute surfaced online. Faber was reinstated as Leader of the Opposition after a recall convention failed to meet the necessary two-thirds majority to remove him from his post.[13] However, in January 2022, Faber’s fiancée alleged to the police that Faber had assaulted her at his home. The charges were withdrawn two days later, but several members of the UDP including the party chairman called on Faber to resign his post as party leader. Faber resigned on 24 January.[14]
The UDP held a leadership convention to elect a new leader on 27 March 2022. Moses “Shyne” Barrow andTracy Panton ofAlbert both contested the position with Barrow emerging victorious by 3 votes.[15] Turmoil persisted within the UDP following Barrow’s election as party leader. Barrow was criticized internally for the UDP’s poor showing in both the 2024 municipal elections where they only won 6 municipal seats and the Toledo East by-election. Following Barrow’s decision to remove the standard bearers of thePort Loyola andCaribbean Shores divisions, several UDP standard bearers led a recall petition to oust Barrow from his position.[16] Despite claiming to have collected the necessary signatures, UDP chairmanMichael Peyrefitte denied the recall petition.[17] UDP members opposed to Barrow declared Panton to be the interim leader of the party following a convention in October 2024.[18]
While Barrow remained Leader of the Opposition, the UDP was essentially splintered going into the election with both Barrow and Panton claiming to be the true leader of the UDP. A total of 41 candidates were nominated under the UDP banner on Nominations Day contesting only 27 out of the 31 divisions.[19] All candidates running under the UDP were denoted with the colour red on the ballot.[20]
TheBelize Justice Movement contested the election with seven candidates.[19] The party launched in late 2023, and ran a campaign on social justice.[21]
ThePeople's Democratic Movement contested the election with four candidates.[19]
ThePeople's National Party contested the election with two candidates.[19]
TheGeneral Opportunity Development Party contested the election with one candidate.[19]
A total of four independent candidates ran in various divisions across the country. In Corozal Bay,Elvia Vega-Samos, who was elected in the 2021 by-election, was defeated byThea Garcia-Ramirez in the PUP nomination convention for that division.[22] Vega-Samos chose to contest the election as an independent.[23] Barrow also offered to support her candidacy.[24] InDangriga, no UDP candidate was nominated in the division, leaving independent candidate Cyril “Uruwei” Garcia as the lone challenger to incumbent representativeLouis Zabaneh.[25] Mateo Tomas Polanco contestedStann Creek West, while Orlando Muschamp contested Toledo East.[19]
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| People's United Party | 85,096 | 67.91 | 26 | 0 | |
| United Democratic Party (Shyne Barrow Faction) | 23,739 | 18.95 | 2 | – | |
| United Democratic Party (Tracy Panton Faction) | 13,237 | 10.56 | 3 | – | |
| Belizeans Justice Movement | 445 | 0.36 | 0 | New | |
| People's National Party | 440 | 0.35 | 0 | New | |
| United Democratic Party (Anthony "Boots" Martinez) | 352 | 0.28 | 0 | – | |
| People's Democratic Movement | 115 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
| General Opportunity Development Party | 26 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 1,849 | 1.48 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 125,299 | 100.00 | 31 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 125,299 | 97.89 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 2,703 | 2.11 | |||
| Total votes | 128,002 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 197,018 | 64.97 | |||
| Source:Elections and Boundaries Department | |||||
| General elections | |
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| Municipal elections | |
| Referendums | |
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