The House of Assembly was the legislature of British Guiana in the 1950s and 1960s.
History The House of Assembly was established as a result of the Waddington Commission, which led to the enactment of constitutional reforms in 1952; universal suffrage was introduced and the Legislative Council was to be replaced by the House of Assembly. The new House had 28 members; 24 members elected in single member constituencies, a speaker appointed by the Governor and three ex officio members (the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General and the Financial Secretary). The term of the final Legislative Council was extended in order to allow preparations for elections under the new system on 27 April 1953.Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 Parliament of Guyana
The elections were won by the People's Progressive Party (PPP) led by Cheddi Jagan, who became Prime Minister, whilst Eustace Gordon Woolford was appointed Speaker of the new House. Its first meeting was held on 18 May. After assuming power Jagan embarked on implementing a series of policies that involved radical social reform, mainly directed at the colonial oligarchy. The British colonial authorities sent in troops in response to the alleged threat of a Marxist revolution. Governor Alfred Savage suspended the constitution on 9 October (only 133 days after it had come into force);Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p354 the House of Assembly was prorogued, before being dissolved on 21 December. A wholly appointed Interim Legislative Council was established in place of the Assembly.
Constitutional reforms in 1964 led to the re-establishment of the House of Assembly as a replacement for the bicameral Legislature, which had been created in 1961. The new House was a 54-seat body, consisting of 53 elected members and the Speaker. The elections were held on 7 December 1964 using proportional representation to allocate the seats, and although the PPP won the most seats, the People's National Congress (PNC) and United Force were able to form a coalition government with a working majority. Despite losing the elections, Jagan refused to resign as Prime Minister, and had to be removed by Governor Richard Luyt, with Forbes Burnham replacing him.Nohlen, p363 The new House met for the first time on 31 December, although the meeting was boycotted by the PPP. Aubrey Percival Alleyne of the PNC was elected Speaker, and subsequently vacated his seat, allowing Philip Duncan of the PNC to take his place.
On 26 May 1966 the country became independent under the name of Guyana. A new constitution came into force, replacing the House of Assembly with the National Assembly.
List of members 1953 PostMemberAppointedSpeakerEustace Gordon WoolfordChief SecretaryJohn GutchAttorney GeneralFrank Wilfred HolderFinancial SecretaryWalter Ogle FraserElectedConstituencyMemberPartyNotes1 – North WestWilliam Alfred PhangIndependent2 – PomeroonThomas Sherwood WheatingIndependent3 – Western EssequiboJanet JaganPeople's Progressive PartyDeputy Speaker4 – Essequibo IslandsTheophilus LeeIndependent5 – Bartica and InteriorEugene Francis CorreiaNational Democratic Party6 – Demerara-EssequiboFred BowmanPeople's Progressive Party7 – West Bank DemeraraJai Narine SinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Local Government and Social Welfare8 – East Bank DemeraraJoseph Prayag LachhmansinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Health and Housing9 – Upper Demerara RiverCharles Albert CarterIndependent10 – Georgetown SouthAshton ChasePeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Labour, Industry and Commerce11 – Georgetown South CentralClinton Reginald WongPeople's Progressive Party12 – Georgetown CentralJessie Irma Sampson BurnhamPeople's Progressive Party13 – Georgetown NorthFrank Obermuller van SertimaPeople's Progressive Party14 – Georgetown North-EastForbes BurnhamPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Education15 – West Central DemeraraRam KarranPeople's Progressive Party16 – Central DemeraraSydney Evanson KingPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Communications and Works17 – East Central DemeraraJane Phillips-GayPeople's Progressive Party18 – Mahaica-MahaiconyChandra Sama PersaudPeople's Progressive Party19 – Western BerbiceSamuel Mahabali LatchmansinghPeople's Progressive Party20 – New AmsterdamRudy KendallNational Democratic Party21 – Berbice RiverAjodha SinghPeople's Progressive Party22 – Eastern BerbiceRobert Stanley Hanoman SinghPeople's Progressive Party23 – Corentyne CoastCheddi JaganPeople's Progressive PartyLeader of the House and Minister of Agriculture, Forests, Lands and Mines24 – Corentyne RiverMohamed KhanPeople's Progressive Party
1964–1966 MemberPartyNotesMemberPartyNotesGovernmentOtherForbes BurnhamPremier, Minister of Development & PlanningAubrey Percival Alleyne–SpeakerPtolemy ReidPeople's National CongressMinister of Home AffairsCheddi JaganNeville James BissemberPeople's National CongressMinister of Health and HousingBrindley BennPeople's Progressive PartyRandolph Emanuel CheeksThe United ForceMinister of Local GovernmentRam KarranPeople's Progressive PartyEugene Francis CorreiaPeople's National CongressMinister of CommunicationsRanji ChandisinghPeople's Progressive PartyPeter d'AguiarThe United ForceMinister of FinanceJocelyn HubbardPeople's Progressive PartyWinifred GaskinPeople's National CongressMinister of Education, Youth, Race Relations & Community DevelopmentCharles Ramkissoon JacobPeople's Progressive PartyC.M. Llewellyn JohnPeople's National CongressMinister of AgricultureCedric Vernon Nunes People's Progressive PartyRobert James JordanPeople's National CongressMinister of Forests, Lands and MinesPeople's Progressive PartyMohamed KasimThe United ForceMinister of Works and HydraulicsEugene Martin StobyPeople's Progressive PartyRudy KendallPeople's National CongressMinister of Trade and IndustryEarl Maxwell Gladstone WilsonPeople's Progressive PartyDeoroop MahrajPeople's National CongressMinister without PortfolioGeorge BowmanPeople's Progressive PartyClaude Alfonso MerrimanPeople's National CongressMinister of Labour and Social SecuritySheik Mohamed SaffeePeople's Progressive PartyStephen CampbellThe United ForceMinistry of Home AffairsAshton ChasePeople's Progressive PartyDavid Brandis deGrootPeople's National Congress Moses BhagwanPeople's Progressive PartyWilliam Alexander BlairPeople's National Congress John Bernard CaldeiraPeople's Progressive PartyJagnarine BudhooPeople's National Congress Abdul Maccie HamidPeople's Progressive PartyCharles Frederick Chan-A-SuePeople's National Congress Derek Chunilall JaganPeople's Progressive PartyOscar Eleazar ClarkePeople's National Congress Goberdhan Harry LallPeople's Progressive PartyRoyden George Basil Field-RidleyPeople's National Congress Yacoob AllyPeople's Progressive PartyJohn Gabriel JoaquinPeople's National Congress Lloyd LindePeople's Progressive PartyHari PrashadThe United Force Joseph Rudolph Spenser LuckPeople's Progressive PartyThomas Anson SanchoPeople's National Congress Reepu Daman PersaudPeople's Progressive PartyRupert TelloThe United Force Mohendernauth PoonaiPeople's Progressive PartyJames Henry ThomasPeople's National Congress Subhan Ali RamjohnPeople's Progressive PartyCyril Victor Too ChungThe United Force Alex Benjamin TrotmanPeople's National CongressPeople's National CongressPhilip DuncanPeople's National CongressReplacement for the Speaker
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