By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

FOLLOWING the death of Environment and Natural Resources Minister Vaughn Miller, there will be the 12th by-election in The Bahamas in five decades, underscoring how seldom voters are called to the polls outside of general elections.

By-elections have historically been triggered by the death, resignation or disqualification of a sitting member. Since 1971, only 11 have been held, with the Progressive Liberal Party winning eight and the Free National Movement three.

The first came in Mangrove Cay in September 1971 after the death of Clarence Bain, won by the PLP’s Darrell Rolle. The PLP went on to claim several more in the 1980s, including Grants Town in 1982, St Barnabas in 1987, and Acklins and Crooked Island in 1989.

The FNM’s first success came in 1990 when David Thompson won Marco City following the death of party leader Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield.

By-elections also opened the door for future leaders. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis entered Parliament through a Cat Island by-election in 1992 after Oscar Johnson resigned. William Allen was elected unopposed in Montagu in 1994 following Sir Orville Turnquest’s resignation, and Ronald Bosfield won South Andros in 1997 after the retirement of Sir Lynden Pindling.

In more recent years, the PLP prevailed in Elizabeth in 2010, with Ryan Pinder defeating the FNM’s Dr Duane Sands after Malcolm Adderley resigned, and in North Abaco in 2012 when Renardo Curry beat the FNM’s Greg Gomez after Mr Ingraham gave up the seat he had held for 35 years.

The country went more than a decade without a by-election until September 2023, when Obie Wilchcombe’s death led to a contest in West Grand Bahama and Bimini. The PLP’s Kingsley Smith won comfortably, defeating the FNM’s Bishop Ricardo Grant.