Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Political Parties, Trades Unions and Pressure Groups Material

Speeches, constitutions, reports, manifestos, speeches, statements, letters and newsletters issued by the Commercial, Technical and Allied Workers' Union (Saint Vincent), the Labour Party (Saint Vincent), the Movement for National Unity, the National Progressive Workers' Union (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), the New Democratic Party (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), the People's Political Party of Saint Vincent, the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Association, the St. Vincent Junior Chamber and the Youlou United Liberation Movement. They are concerned amongst other things with the problems of economic development in the islands, with the position of the country in the Caribbean as a whole and of course with the transition to independence. There are also materials issued by trades unions as well as by human rights and business groups.

During the period covered by these holdings the islands now known as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines passed from being part of the Windward Islands colonial group (up to 1958) through membership of the British West Indies federation (1958-1962) to being first a separate dependency (1962), then an associated state (1969) and finally independent in 1979.

Alphabetically by organisation, and then in rough chronological order.

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies.

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

The Commonwealth Political Parties Materials collection was begun in 1960-61, with special emphasis being placed then, as now, on "primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos." (ICS, Twelfth Annual Report 1960-1961). Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant.

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.