Dominica Labour Party

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The Dominica Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Dominica.

Founded in 1951 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey, it is the oldest political party in Dominica.

At the elections of 31 January 2000, the party regained power for the first time since 1975, winning 43.1% of the popular vote and 10 out of the 21 elected members of the House of Assembly. At that moment the DLP was led by Roosevelt "Rosie" Douglas. He was a former socialist radical, and many feared that his approach to politics might be impractical. However, he formed a coalition with the more conservative Dominica Freedom Party. Douglas died suddenly after only a few months in office, on 1 October 2000, and was replaced by Pierre Charles. On 6 January 2004, Charles, who had been suffering from heart problems since 2003, died. He became the second consecutive prime minister of Dominica to die in office of a heart attack. Foreign Minister Osborne Riviere immediately became active prime minister, but the education minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, succeeded him as prime minister and became the new leader of the party.

At the last elections (5 May 2005) the party strengthened its coalition with its former rival the Dominica Freedom Party, with the two parties not running against each other's candidates and some saying that the parties may soon merge. The DLP won 12 seats, while the Freedom Party won 0, but by gaining two seats the Labour Party formed another government on its own.

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