Since colonial times, various officials have acted as the head of government in Antigua and Barbuda. In 1872, the position of colonial president was established, which was the first time that executive functions were fully separated from the archipelago's governor. The president of Antigua essentially exercised the same functions that the governor of Antigua had prior to being assigned responsibility over the entire
British Leeward Islands. Following the abolition of the presidency, the position of administrator was established, who took up residence in
Government House and eventually had a major power expansion in the 1959 constitutional amendment. The position of administrator still remained more akin to a subordinated governor rather than that of the modern day prime minister. On 1 January 1960, the position of chief minister was established, the inaugural holder being Vere Bird. The chief minister was appointed by the administrator and was the member of the now-elected Legislative Council who could command the support of the majority of members. The chief minister was also granted the ability to form an Executive Council, which has since been replaced by the Cabinet. The direct precursor to the position of prime minister was that of premier, which was first proposed during the 1966 Antigua Constitutional Conference in the prelude to associated statehood. On 27 February 1967, the position of administrator was abolished and the island's head of government became once again directly subordinated to the now fully-local governor. Legally, the position of premier was nearly identical to that of the prime minister today– the premier was appointed by the governor and a
Westminster system was established. The creation of the office of premier also coincided with the start of presidentialisation in Antiguan and Barbudan politics, with Antiguans and Barbudans beginning to feel that they themselves elected their premier and that their premier was the
de facto figurehead of the emerging nation. During the
1971 general election that put
George Walter into power, candidates for the premiership began to directly accuse each other of corruption and responsibility for their party's actions, introducing the premier as the new leader of Antiguan and Barbudan society. This continued until the
independence process of Antigua and Barbuda starting in the late 1970s. The position of prime minister was for the most part legally identical to that of the premier. The prime minister was now appointed by a governor-general and similarly required the confidence of the House of Representatives in order to be appointed to the role. In the
1980s and early 1990s, Vere Bird, with the support of Parliament, began to consolidate power in a manner that established him as the "father of the nation" and essentially gave him complete control of the
military and economy. The Bird family's grip on power continued throughout the
1990s and early 2000s with the rise of Lester Bird to the premiership. Lester Bird used his control of the security forces and media to aid the expansion of prime ministerial powers, along with falsified elections that created a political dynasty and ended Antigua and Barbuda's status as a full democracy. However, reforms in 2001 caused a reduction of the prime minister's unofficial hard power and the start of the modern Antiguan and Barbudan political system. Today, the prime minister continues to be considered by the public as the face of Antiguan and Barbudan politics as well as the leader of the country. The prime minister is a public figure who makes binding decisions on the central government's agenda and tends to face little obstacles from the governing party and Parliament. As all prime ministers have been the leaders of their respective parties, the prime minister also tends to have influence over the party's candidate slate and ideology. == Selection process ==