A general election was held in Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

 on 15 January 2008. A concurrent referendum

Barbadian republic referendum

-History:In 1979, a commission of inquiry known as the Cox Commission on the Constitution was constituted and under the auspices of looking at the republic issue. The Cox Commission came to the conclusion that Barbadians preferred to maintain the constitutional monarchy. The proposal to move to a...

 to determine whether or not to become a republic was initially planned but that vote was postponed.

The Democratic Labour Party

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

The Democratic Labour Party is a political party in Barbados, and currently the ruling party of the country. It is led by Freundel Stuart.-History:...

 (DLP), which had been in opposition since 1994, won a surprise victory with 20 seats to 10 seats for the Barbados Labour Party

Barbados Labour Party

The Barbados Labour Party is the main opposition party of Barbados. Led by Rt. Hon.Owen Arthur, the BLP holds 9 out of 30 seats in the House of Assembly as of January 2008...

, led by Prime Minister Owen Arthur

Owen Arthur

Owen Seymour Arthur, MP was the fifth Prime Minister of Barbados who was in office from 1994 to 2008 and is the current Leader of Opposition in Barbados. To date, he is the longest serving Barbadian Prime Minister....

. Recounts were held in some constituencies due to close results.

DLP leader David Thompson

David Thompson (Barbadian politician)

David John Howard Thompson, QC, MP was the sixth Prime Minister of Barbados from January 2008 until his death from pancreatic cancer on 23 October 2010....

was sworn in as Prime Minister on January 16.