The prime minister of the West Indies Federation was the head of government of the short lived West Indies Federation (also known as the British Caribbean Federation), which consisted of ten provinces: Antigua (with Barbuda), Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica (with the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands), Montserrat, St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad and Tobago. The federation was formed on 3 January 1958, and was formally dissolved on 31 May 1962.
The prime minister was elected by the House of Representatives from among its members, constitutionally acted as an advisor to the governor-general of the West Indies Federation, and was involved in economic planning, but had very little power beyond those roles, being junior to the position of governor-general.The Growth of the Modern West Indies. Gordon K. Lewis, Ian Randle Publishers, 2004. Pp. 386-87.
Starting in January 1959, the governor-general, Lord Hailes, attempted to get Adams to step down so he could be replaced with Norman Manley, whom Hailes saw as endorsing "decentralised federation" and being able to bring "most responsible people in Jamaica" with him.Ordering Independence: The End of Empire in the Anglophone Caribbean. Spencer Mawby, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Pp. 155, 160.
List of officeholders Parties
Portrait Name Term of office Political party Election Government Took office Left office Time in office 1 Grantley Herbert Adams 18 April 1958 31 May 1962 West Indies Federal Labour Party 1958 Adams
See also Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles (Dutch West Indies) 1961 Jamaican Federation of the West Indies membership referendum
References
External links World Statesmen – West Indies Federation