Barbados has one of the oldest constitutions in the Commonwealth; the office of Governor and a Legislative Council having been introduced in 1627, and a House of Assembly constituted in 1639. An Executive Council (1881) evolved functions similar to those of ministerial government. The Assembly represented white plantation-owner interests until the franchise began to be widened in 1944; further political parties developed in 1946. Universal adult suffrage followed in 1951, a full ministerial system in 1954, and cabinet government in 1958.
Thus, by 1957, Barbados had virtual self-government under a democratic system, a status formally recognised in 1961. At the same time nominated members ceased to sit on the Executive Committee, and the Governor became bound to accept the decisions of this committee. In 1964 the Executive Committee was abolished and its duties transferred to the Cabinet. The Legislative Council was replaced by
a Senate.
Barbados had been a member of the Federation of the West Indies, set up in 1958. When the Federation was dissolved in 1962, the Barbados government announced its intention to seek independence separately. Arrangements were agreed at a constitutional conference in London, and Barbados became an independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth on 30 November 1966.
