Editing Politics of the Bahamas (section)

==Political developments==
In the first half of the 20th century, the Bahamas was largely controlled by a group of influential white merchants known as the "Bay Street Boys",<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Bahamas: Bad News for the Boys|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,843308,00.html|magazine=Time|date=20 January 1967 |publisher=Time magazine|access-date=4 March 2015}}</ref> who dominated both the economy and the legislature. Executive power rested with the British [[List of Governors of the Bahamas|Governor-in-Council]].

The Progressive Liberal Party was formed in 1953 to represent the disenfranchised black majority and this led to the formation of the [[United Bahamian Party]] by the Bay Street Boys. In 1964, the British gave the Bahamas internal self-governance and the white UBP leader [[Roland Symonette]] became the country's first premier. In 1967, under the leadership of a young black lawyer named [[Lynden Pindling]], the PLP were elected and went on to lead the Bahamas into independence in 1973.

A coalition of PLP dissidents and former UBP members formed the Free National Movement (FNM) in 1971 under the leadership of [[Cecil Wallace-Whitfield]]. After Whitfield's death in 1990, another ex-PLP, [[Hubert Ingraham]], became leader of the FNM and took the party to victory in the 1992 general election. The FNM was re-elected by a landslide in 1997, but lost to a resurgent PLP, under the leadership of his former law partner [[Perry Christie]], in 2002. Ingraham turned the party leadership over to [[Tommy Turnquest]] in 2002, but in 2007, due partly to the [[Anna Nicole Smith]] scandal, he returned to lead the FNM to victory again by a five-seat margin.

Due to the inefficiency of the Ingraham government, Christie's PLP regained the government in a massive landslide in 2012. The Christie government was once more libel to charges of massive corruption, and in 2017, there was an even bigger swing back to the FNM, leaving the PLP with a mere four seats in the parliament. general election|in 2002]], when the PLP returned to power under [[Perry Christie]].<ref>{{cite web |title=New Bahamas Cabinet {{!}} Bahamas Financial Services Board |url=https://bfsb-bahamas.com/blog/2002/05/10/new-bahamas-cabinet/ |website=bfsb-bahamas.com}}</ref> Ingraham returned to power from 2007 to 2012, followed by Christie again from 2012 to 2017. With economic growth faltering, Bahamians re-elected the FNM in 2017, with [[Hubert Minnis]] becoming the fourth prime minister.<ref name="Britannica, Bahamas">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Bahamas|title=Encyclopedia Britannica – The Bahamas|access-date= 22 July 2019}}</ref>

In September 2021, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis lost in a snap [[2021 Bahamian general election|election]] as the economy struggles to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-16/bahamas-votes-in-knife-edge-election-after-16-economic-crash |work=www.bloomberg.com |date=17 September 2021}}</ref> Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. Free National Movement (FNM), led by Minnis,  took the remaining seats.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bahamas Election 2021: PLP election victory confirmed {{!}} Loop Caribbean News |url=https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/bahamas-election-2021-plp-election-victory-confirmed |work=Loop News |date=20 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref> On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) [[Philip Davis (Bahamian politician)|Phillip “Brave” Davis]] was sworn in as the new [[Prime Minister of Bahamas]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=McLeod |first1=Sheri-Kae |title=Phillip Davis Sworn in as Prime Minister of Bahamas |url=https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/caribbean-breaking-news-featured/phillip-davis-sworn-in-as-prime-minister-of-bahamas/ |work=Caribbean News |date=17 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref>