Barbados elects Sandra Mason as First President

As Barbados continues to transition into a republic, the nation has elected a woman as its very first president – Dame Sandra Mason

Mason, the current governor-general, was elected after securing two-thirds of the votes in the country’s two houses of Parliament.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley described the vote as a “seminal moment” for the nation. 

“We believe that she is a fitting nomination for the post of being the first president of Barbados to be elected by this parliament of Barbados. The time has come for us to express the full confidence in ourselves as a people, and to believe that it is possible for one born of this nation to sign off finally and completely.”

Mason is set to be sworn in as president on November 30, the country’s 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Mason previously worked as a schoolteacher, a magistrate, the ambassador to Venezuela, Chile, Colombia and Brazil and a judge of the Supreme Court of Barbados. She also served as registrar of the Supreme Court until 2005.

In 2018, Mason was appointed as the formal representative of Queen Elizabeth II in Barbados. According to her official biography, she credits motherhood as her “greatest achievement”.

At the ceremony, Dame Sandra Mason will officially replace the queen as the head of state.