In December 1983, Barrow entered electoral politics as a candidate in
Belize City's elections for city council, which he won as part of a nine-man slate. Before that year's redistricting, in
1984 Barrow was
preselected as the UDP candidate for
Collet but after redistricting chose to contest the newly created
Queen's Square constituency instead, as was his prerogative under UDP party rules. In the ensuing election Barrow handily defeated
Ralph Fonseca of the
People's United Party. Soon after he was appointed to the first
Manuel Esquivel Cabinet as
Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the
1989 general election, Barrow defeated Thomas Greenwood but his party lost the election. Barrow continued in his law practice. In 1990, he became deputy UDP leader under Esquivel after the death of
Curl Thompson. In 1993, Barrow won his third straight general election and returned to the Cabinet in the posts he held from the previous administration in addition to Minister of National Security. His detractors called him "Minister of Everything" during this period because he was a particularly high-profile spokesman for the Esquivel government. After the UDP's devastating
1998 election loss in which he was one of only three UDP winners, Barrow was elevated to UDP party leader and
Leader of the Opposition, succeeding the defeated Esquivel. Barrow presided over the smallest oppositions (three and seven respectively) in the House of Representatives since 1974 and ever in the UDP's history. Barrow was reelected in 1998 and 2003 by closer margins than his previous elections over attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley. He has since been re-elected by comfortable majorities. Prior to his retirement in 2020, Barrow was the most senior member of the UDP delegation in the Belize House as well as the Area Representative with the longest tenure of uninterrupted service. Among other Area Representatives, only
Said Musa has had a longer cumulative time in office.
Prime Minister of Belize The UDP won a massive victory, with 25 out of 31 seats, in the general election held on 7 February 2008, and Barrow was sworn in as prime minister on 8 February. He is the country's first black Prime Minister. He announced his Cabinet, including himself as
Minister of Finance, on 11 February. The UDP won a reduced majority in the
2012 general election and Barrow started his second term as prime minister on 9 March 2012. He announced his cabinet, including himself as the
Minister of Finance and Economic Development, on 12 March 2012. Barrow led the UDP to a
third consecutive general election victory in November 2015, however he stated the election would be his last as party leader.
Retirement from politics in 2020 Citing health issues, Barrow initially said he would step down as prime minister no later than the end of 2019 and hinted he could do so earlier. However, on 18 November 2018, Barrow's Cabinet urged him to remain as Prime Minister of Belize until the
2020 Belizean general election. He said that he would take that move. A convention to name Barrow's successor as UDP party leader was tentatively scheduled for May 2019, but in August 2019, the UDP postponed the date to 9 February 2020. There were two confirmed candidates for the leadership convention, with the first one being
Deputy Prime Minister,
Patrick Faber and the other being National Security Minister,
John Saldivar. Barrow also stood down from his House seat in Queen's Square in the 2020 general election, endorsing his sister, Denise "Sister B" Barrow, to succeed him.
Return to private practice Barrow returned to private practice and resumed his position as head of litigation at the law firm of Barrow & Williams LLP. He has since then been involved in many high-profile cases. ==Personal life==