Forde began his political career in the 1960s, having a hand in negotiations that led to
Barbados's independence in 1966. He won the
Christ Church West seat in 1971, a seat he would hold for the next 30 years until 2003. He would then be appointed
Minister of External Affairs and
Attorney-General of Barbados in 1976, serving until 1981 in the
Tom Adams administration. After Tom Adams' death, and
Bernard St. John's premiership ended with the
1986 Barbadian general election he would assume leadership of the BLP in 1986 and the position as Leader of the Opposition until 1989 when
Richard Christopher Haynes broke away from the then in-power
Democratic Labour Party with some other DLP members, forming the
National Democratic Party which became the second largest party in the
House of Assembly of Barbados making Haynes the new leader of the opposition. After the
1991 Barbadian general election he would then again become opposition leader until 1993, stepping down as BLP leader due to poor health. In 1996, Forde would chair the commission inquiry, the Constitution Review Commission which reviewed the
Constitution of Barbados in regards to preparing for Barbados to become a
republic. The commission held public hearings in Barbados and overseas. Forde would later retire from politics in 1999 but continued to practice law. ==Death==