Antigua and Barbuda swears in a new Cabinet, dropping a 40-year oath to the British monarch

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ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda (AP) — The twin island nation Antigua and Barbuda swore in a new Cabinet on Tuesday, days after incumbent Prime Minister Gaston Browne led the Antigua and Barbuda Labor Party to an unprecedented fourth consecutive electoral victory.

For the first time, elected officials swore an oath of allegiance to the country, setting aside a more than 40-year tradition of pledging loyalty to the British sovereign in the former colony.

In December 2025, Parliament approved a constitutional amendment formally removing loyalty to the British monarch, King Charles III, his heirs and successors from the oath of allegiance. The oath now pledges allegiance to the state of Antigua and Barbuda, its constitution and its laws.

“Whereas your success at the polls has earned you the confidence and trust of the people; that confidence and trust collectively, is not a gift to be enjoyed, or trust to be betrayed. It is a burden to be carried, a duty to be performed, a trust to be honored every single day,” Browne said to those gathered.

The ABLP secured 15 of the country’s 17 parliamentary seats, while Jamale Pringle of the main opposition United Progressive Party was left as its lone standard-bearer after his party’s seat count collapsed from five to one. He will be joined on the opposition bench by returning member of Parliament Trevor Walker, who has won on the Barbuda People’s Movement ticket in every election (except 2014) since 2004.

Triggered two years ahead of the constitutional deadline, the snap election followed a campaign dominated by the rising cost of living and infrastructure development.

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