Bermuda's Parliament was created in 1620 and originally had one house, the House of Assembly. Political parties were not legal, and the role now performed by the Senate was originally performed by an appointed council, called the Governor's Council, or Privy Council. The council also performed the role that today belongs to the Cabinet (the Cabinet is composed of ministers appointed from elected members of Parliament from the House of Assembly). Historically, the Council, composed of members of Bermuda's wealthy merchant class, had been the true centre of power, rather than the elected House of Assembly, or the governor despatched from overseas. During periods when the colony was without a governor, the president of the Council would be acting governor. The balance of power began to shift away from the Council in the 19th century, when Bermuda assumed a new importance in imperial security, and when the governor became also the commander-in-chief of the
naval establishment and
military garrison. In May 1888, the Privy Council was split into an
Executive Council, which later became the Cabinet, and a
Legislative Council, which became the
upper house of Parliament (equivalent to the
House of Lords in the
Westminster Parliament), both with senior military and civil servants as members, and also with members appointed by the governor from the House of Assembly. On the split, the president of the old Council, the chief justice of Bermuda (Sir Josiah Rees), became the president of the Legislative Council. In 1968, largely as a result of the civil rights movement, a new constitution was introduced which made a number of changes to Bermuda's parliamentary system, making it more like the Westminster system. Political parties were legalised, and the system of a
responsible government, from which a premier was appointed and the
cabinet ministers were drawn, and a minority opposition was adopted. The
property qualification was abolished and the system of
suffrage, by which the members of the lower house were elected, and which had historically been limited to male landowners, was finally extended to all adults. The Executive Council was renamed the Cabinet in 1973, and is now formed from members of the majority party in the House of Assembly. The Legislative Council was renamed the Senate of Bermuda in 1980, and is now composed of five members recommended by the premier, three by the leader of the opposition, and three by the governor acting in his own discretion, all appointed by the governor. ==See also==