Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation

Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
History
Founded	April 1958
Disbanded	July 1962
Structure
Senate political groups	Federalist (15)   Democrat (4)
House of Representatives political groups	Federalist (25)   Democrat (19)   Barbados National (1)
Length of term	5 years (maximum)
Elections
Senate voting system	Appointment by the governor general
Last House of Representatives election	25 March 1958
Meeting place
Port of Spain, Trinidad

The Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation was the bicameral legislature in West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. It was formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate (Upper house) and an elected House of Representatives (Lower house).

The governor general, on behalf of the monarch, summoned and appointed the 19 senators, while each of the 45 members of the House of Representatives represented an electoral district, and were elected by voters residing in the district. The governor general also summoned and called together the House of Representatives, and had the power to prorogue or dissolve Parliament, in order to either end a parliamentary session or call a general election.^[1]

The only election was held in 1958. It remained for 4 years until the dissolution of the federation in 1962. The official language of the Parliament was English.