2025 Trinidad and Tobago general election

Politics of Trinidad and Tobago
Government President (list) Christine Kangaloo Prime Minister Stuart Young
Parliament Senate President Nigel de Freitas House of Representatives Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar Members of Parliament
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General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 28 April 2025 to elect all 41 members of the House of Representatives. President Christine Kangaloo, on the advice of Prime Minister Stuart Young, dissolved parliament and issued the writs for election on 18 March 2025.

This was the first election after the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) redrew the boundaries for 16 constituencies, and renamed five of them. Seventeen political parties and three independents contested the election.

The United National Congress won 26 seats, forming a majority government, with its leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar becoming Prime Minister for the second time since she was elected leader in 2010. The governing People's National Movement led by former Prime Minister Keith Rowley and Stuart Young as Prime Ministerial candidate won 13 seats, losing power, becoming the opposition. The Tobago People's Party led by Tobago House of Assembly Chief Minister Farley Augustine won both Tobago seats.

According to party organiser Barry Padarath, it was the best result for the United National Congress since the party's foundation.

In the aftermath of the election, Young resigned as PNM party chairman on April 30, and Rowley announced his intention to resign as political leader of the PNM on May 1. Kamla Persad-Bissessar and John Jeremie were sworn in as Prime Minister and Attorney General respectively on May 1.

The 41 members of the House of Representatives are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. Registered voters must be 18 years and over, must reside in an electoral district/constituency for at least two months prior to the qualifying date, be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago or a Commonwealth citizen residing legally in Trinidad and Tobago for a period of at least one year.

If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the Government, with its leader as Prime Minister. If the election results in no single party having a majority, then there is a hung parliament. In this case, the options for forming the Government are either a minority government or a coalition government.

Political parties registered with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) can contest the general election as a party.

The leader of the party commanding a majority of support in the House of Representatives is the person who is called on by the president to form a government as Prime Minister, while the leader of the largest party or coalition not in government becomes the Leader of the Opposition.

The People's National Movement and the United National Congress have been the two biggest parties, in addition to having supplied every prime minister since 1991.

The following registered parties contested the general election. One hundred and fifty-eight candidates representing seventeen parties and three independent candidates contested the election.

Two parties — the PNM and the Patriotic Front — contested seats in both Trinidad and Tobago.

Ten parties and two independents contested seats only in Trinidad.

Five parties and one independent contested seats only in Tobago.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar campaigned on increasing public sector salaries, protecting pensions and reopening the state oil company Petrotrin. The proposals were criticised by Stuart Young as unrealistic, saying that they would need $2 billion in funding.

The following lists identify and rank seats by the margin by which the party's candidate finished behind the winning candidate in the 2020 election.

For information purposes only, seats that have changed hands through subsequent by elections have been noted. Seats whose members have changed party allegiance are ignored.

The North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) based in New York (led by political analyst Vishnu Bisram), pollster Nigel Henry's Solution by Simulation and pollster Louis Bertrand's H.H.B (H.H.B) & Associates have commissioned opinion polling for the next general election sampling the electorates' opinions.

The United National Congress won 26 seats, forming a majority government, with its leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar becoming Prime Minister for the second time since she was elected leader in 2010. The governing People's National Movement led by former Prime Minister Keith Rowley and Stuart Young as Prime Ministerial candidate won 13 seats, losing power, becoming the opposition. The Tobago People's Party led by Tobago House of Assembly Chief Minister Farley Augustine won both Tobago seats.

According to party organiser Barry Padarath, it was the best result for the United National Congress since the party's foundation.

In the aftermath of the election, Young resigned as PNM party chairman on April 30, and Rowley announced his intention to resign as political leader of the PNM on May 1. Kamla Persad-Bissessar and John Jeremie were sworn in as Prime Minister and Attorney General respectively on May 1.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) report of 13 March 2024 on constituency boundary reviews resulted in the renaming of five constituencies: Arouca/Maloney became Trincity/Maloney, D'Abadie/O'Meara became Malabar/Mausica, Lopinot/Bon Air West became Arouca/Lopinot, St Joseph became Aranguez/St Joseph, and Pointe-à-Pierre became Claxton Bay. The report also recommended maintaining the current total of 41 constituencies, with 39 seats in Trinidad and two in Tobago.

Lisa Morris-Julian, the Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for D'Abadie/O'Meara (renamed Malabar/Mausica from this election), was re-selected by the PNM as the candidate for the seat on 3 December 2024. However she died in a house fire on 16 December 2024.

In the table below, non-minister MPs who are not standing for re-election are marked (‡). Government ministers are in bold, prime ministerial candidates and party leaders are in italics.

The UNC, led by former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar won a majority of seats, after 10 years as opposition. She was sworn in as prime minister on 1 May. Some analysts cited the UNC's victory as voters' rejection of Rowley and his maneuver of appointing Young without the voters' approval. Hamid Ghany, a political analyst at the University of the West Indies suggested that there would be a different response from the Trump administration due to Persad-Bissessar's favourable disposition towards Trump compared to the PNM's closeness towards Maduro's administration in Venezuela.

The former leader of the PNM, Keith Rowley, conceded defeat on behalf of his party that night. Stuart Young, with a tenure of 43 days, became the shortest-serving Prime Minister in the country's history. The PNM lost in their safe seats of La Brea and on the island of Tobago.

A CARICOM delegation congratulated Persad-Bissessar stating: "We look forward to welcoming Prime Minister-elect Persad-Bissessar to the Conference of Heads of Government, and to her participation, as we continue to tackle emerging geopolitical issues, and seek to further improve the welfare and well-being of the people of the region." Among the leaders congratulating Persad-Bissessar included the Prime Minister of Dominica, Keith Rowley, and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley.

• Persad-Bissessar administration (2025–)