Errol Walton Barrow

Errol Walton Barrow (born January 21, 1920 in St. Lucy , Barbados , † June 1, 1987 in Bridgetown , Barbados) was a politician from Barbados.

Life

After attending school, he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1940 and flew more than 50 sorties over Western Europe during World War II . In 1947 he retired from active military service and returned to his home country.

His political career began in 1951 when he was elected for the first time as a member of the House of Assembly as a candidate for the Barbados Labor Party (BLP) founded by Grantley Herbert Adams . After he was disappointed by the conservative politics of the BLP, he was one of the founders of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in 1955 , of which he was chairman from 1958 to 1976.

On December 8, 1961, he became Premier of Barbados, which was the province of the West Indian Federation until 1962 . As Premier he led Barbados on 30 November 1966 in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom and became the first prime minister until September 7, 1976. As prime minister, he pursued a policy of diversity in agriculture , the stimulation of tourism and integration of the races in the Society. As a staunch advocate of the integration of Barbados into the Caribbean region , he had a great influence on the establishment of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA), from which the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) emerged in 1973 . However, as a result of the worsening economic situation after the oil crisis , it lost popularity in the early 1970s. In addition, his attempts to influence the appointment of judges led to a loss of confidence in the government. This ultimately led to the fact that his DLP suffered a severe defeat in the 1976 elections and the BLP won 17 of the 24 seats in parliament. On September 7, 1976, John Michael G. Adams succeeded him as Prime Minister.

Barrow was thereafter opposition leader and clear opponent of US interference in Caribbean affairs and particularly condemned the US invasion of Grenada in 1983.

In 1986, however, Barrow was able to clearly win the elections for the meeting house again with the DLP and became Prime Minister himself again on May 29, 1986 as the successor to Harold Bernard St. John . After his election, he tried to resolve disputes within CARICOM, particularly with Trinidad and Tobago . Together with James Fitz-Allen Mitchell , Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 1984 to 2000, he was opposed to the emergence of the regional security system and the formal contracts required for it. After he died in office on June 1, 1987, Lloyd Erskine Sandiford succeeded him as Prime Minister a day later .

His older sister, Dame Nita Barrow , was Governor General of Barbados from 1990 to 1995 .

literature

• Errol W. Barrow , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 34/1987 of August 10, 1987, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

• Errol Walton Barrow on rulers.org