The Senate of Bermuda is the upper house of the Parliament of Bermuda, the other being the House of Assembly. The Senate consists of eleven members appointed by the Governor for five-year terms — five Senators are nominated by the Premier, three by the Leader of the Opposition, and three appointed at the discretion of the Governor. Of the three appointed by the Governor, the Senate elects one to serve as the President, and another to serve as the Vice President.[1]
The building housing the Senate and the Cabinet Offices.
The Senate serves as a house of review and serves as a road-block to constitutional change — the constitution requires a 2/3 super-majority (i.e., 8 votes) for a constitutional amendment, requiring the support of both the government and opposition appointees.
The presiding officer of the Senate is the President of the Senate. Carol Bassett, who has been a Senator since 2003, was elected President in 2008, the first woman elected to the office.[2] She resigned the office in August 2017.[3]
The members of the Senate appointed in August 2017 were:[3]
The three Independents were:
Joan Dillas-Wright
James Jardine
Michelle Simmons
Government/PLP nominees:
Anthony Richardson
Jason Hayward
Kathy Simmons
Crystal Caesar, and
Vance Campbell.
Opposition/OBA nominees were:
Nandi Outerbridge
Nicholas Kempe, and
Andrew Simons.
Historyedit
Bermuda's Parliament was created in 1620, and originally had one house, the House of Assembly. Political parties were not legal, and the role now performed by the Senate was originally performed by an appointed council, called the Governor's Council, or Privy Council. The council also performed the role that today belongs to the Cabinet (the Cabinet is composed of Ministers appointed from elected Members of Parliament from the House of Assembly). Historically, the Council, composed of members of Bermuda's wealthy merchant class, had been the true centre of power, rather than the elected House of Assembly, or the Governor despatched from overseas. During periods when the colony was without a Governor, the President of the Council would be Acting Governor. The balance of power began to shift away from the Council in the 19th century, when Bermuda assumed a new importance in Imperial security, and when the Governor became also the Commander-in-Chief of the naval establishment and military garrison.
In May, 1888, the Privy Council was split into an Executive Council, which later became the Cabinet, and a Legislative Council, which became the upper house of Parliament (equivalent to the House of Lords in the Westminster Parliament), both with senior military and civil servants as members, and also with members appointed by the Governor from the House of Assembly. On the split, the President of the old Council, the Chief Justice of Bermuda (Sir Josiah Rees), became the President of the Legislative council.
In 1968, largely as a result of the civil rights movement, a new Constitution was introduced which made a number of changes to Bermuda's parliamentary system, making it more like the Westminster system. Political parties were legalised, and the system of a Responsible government, from which a Premier was appointed and the Cabinet Ministers were drawn, and a minority opposition was adopted. The property qualification was abolished and the system of suffrage, by which the members of the lower house were elected, and which had historically been limited to male landowners, was finally extended to all adults. The Executive Council was renamed the Cabinet in 1973, and is now formed from Members of the majority party in the House of Assembly. The Legislative Council was renamed the Senate of Bermuda in 1980, and is now composed of five Members recommended by the Premier, three by the Leader of the Opposition, and three by the Governor acting in his own discretion, all appointed by the Governor.[4]
^"General Information". Bermuda Parliament. Government of Bermuda. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
January 01, 1970
senate, bermuda, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, written, like, personal, reflection, personal, essay, argumentative, essay, that, states. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article is written like a personal reflection personal essay or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor s personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style December 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information December 2017 This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Senate of Bermuda news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The Senate of Bermuda is the upper house of the Parliament of Bermuda the other being the House of Assembly The Senate consists of eleven members appointed by the Governor for five year terms five Senators are nominated by the Premier three by the Leader of the Opposition and three appointed at the discretion of the Governor Of the three appointed by the Governor the Senate elects one to serve as the President and another to serve as the Vice President 1 Senate of Bermuda11th Modern Bermudian ParliamentTypeTypeUpper House of the Parliament of BermudaHistoryFounded1 August 1620 original unicameral house 2 June 1968 modern bicameral Parliament LeadershipMonarchCharles IIIGovernorRena Lalgie since December 2020PresidentJoan Dillas Wright since 2017StructureSeats11 SenatorsHouse political groupsHis Majesty s Government Progressive Labour Party 5 His Majesty s Loyal Opposition One Bermuda Alliance 3 Appointed by Governor 3 Meeting placeThe building housing the Senate and the Cabinet Offices The Senate serves as a house of review and serves as a road block to constitutional change the constitution requires a 2 3 super majority i e 8 votes for a constitutional amendment requiring the support of both the government and opposition appointees The presiding officer of the Senate is the President of the Senate Carol Bassett who has been a Senator since 2003 was elected President in 2008 the first woman elected to the office 2 She resigned the office in August 2017 3 Contents 1 Current members 2 History 3 See also 4 ReferencesCurrent members editThe members of the Senate appointed in August 2017 were 3 The three Independents were Joan Dillas Wright James Jardine Michelle Simmons Government PLP nominees Anthony Richardson Jason Hayward Kathy Simmons Crystal Caesar and Vance Campbell Opposition OBA nominees were Nandi Outerbridge Nicholas Kempe and Andrew Simons History editBermuda s Parliament was created in 1620 and originally had one house the House of Assembly Political parties were not legal and the role now performed by the Senate was originally performed by an appointed council called the Governor s Council or Privy Council The council also performed the role that today belongs to the Cabinet the Cabinet is composed of Ministers appointed from elected Members of Parliament from the House of Assembly Historically the Council composed of members of Bermuda s wealthy merchant class had been the true centre of power rather than the elected House of Assembly or the Governor despatched from overseas During periods when the colony was without a Governor the President of the Council would be Acting Governor The balance of power began to shift away from the Council in the 19th century when Bermuda assumed a new importance in Imperial security and when the Governor became also the Commander in Chief of the naval establishment and military garrison In May 1888 the Privy Council was split into an Executive Council which later became the Cabinet and a Legislative Council which became the upper house of Parliament equivalent to the House of Lords in the Westminster Parliament both with senior military and civil servants as members and also with members appointed by the Governor from the House of Assembly On the split the President of the old Council the Chief Justice of Bermuda Sir Josiah Rees became the President of the Legislative council In 1968 largely as a result of the civil rights movement a new Constitution was introduced which made a number of changes to Bermuda s parliamentary system making it more like the Westminster system Political parties were legalised and the system of a Responsible government from which a Premier was appointed and the Cabinet Ministers were drawn and a minority opposition was adopted The property qualification was abolished and the system of suffrage by which the members of the lower house were elected and which had historically been limited to male landowners was finally extended to all adults The Executive Council was renamed the Cabinet in 1973 and is now formed from Members of the majority party in the House of Assembly The Legislative Council was renamed the Senate of Bermuda in 1980 and is now composed of five Members recommended by the Premier three by the Leader of the Opposition and three by the Governor acting in his own discretion all appointed by the Governor 4 See also editList of presidents of the Senate of BermudaReferences edit travis smith simons 2016 03 03 The Legislature www gov bm Retrieved 2018 12 11 Carol A M Bassett a b Carol Bassett Retires As Senate President Bernews 2017 08 17 Retrieved 2023 10 22 General Information Bermuda Parliament Government of Bermuda Retrieved 2021 08 06 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Senate of Bermuda amp oldid 1181407578, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
