Parliamentary Elections, 28 April 2025

Trinidad and Tobago held its federal parliamentary election on 28 April 2025, to elect all 42 members of the House of Representative for a five-year term (IFES 2025). The election was conducted by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) following the issuance of writs by President Christine Kangaloo on 18 March 2025. The came after the Prime Minister Stuart Young, who succeed Keith Rowley, advised the dissolution of parliament to seek a fresh electoral mandate following Rowley’s resignation (AP 2025; Reuters 2025).

Parliamentary elections are conducted under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system (IFES 2025). In preparation for the election, the EBC carried out a constituency boundary review that affected 16 constituencies and resulted in the renaming of five, aiming to enhance voter representation (Douglas 2025; Elections and Boundaries Commission 2025).

The campaign period featured 17 political parties and three independent candidates, though the primary contest was between the United National Congress (UNC) and the People’s National Movement (PNM). Key issues during the campaign included economic recovery, crime, and governance reforms. The UNC secured a parliamentary majority with 26 seats, while the Tobago People’s Party won both seats allocated to Tobago (Hamilton-Davis 2025 ). UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar became Prime Minister for the second time, having served in the role from 2010 to 2015. The UNC’s victory ended a decade of the incumbent People’s National Movement (PNM) in power. International observers from CARICOM and the Commonwealth reported the elections were well organized (International IDEA n.d.a).

Voter turnout was relatively low at 53.92 per cent, down from 58.04 per cent in the 2020 general election (International IDEA n.d.b) and the lowest turnout since the 1970s.

Innovations 

The Commonwealth Observer Group commended the presence of an information desk officer at each polling division, to guide voters to voting stations (Commonwealth 2025).