Antigua & Barbuda: Independence Movement

Antigua assumed a status of association with the United Kingdom on 27 February 1967 under the West Indies Act of 1967, gaining full self-government over internal affairs while London retained responsibility for defense and foreign relations. The arrangement fell short of full sovereignty and left unresolved the question of how, or whether, the islands would ultimately separate from Britain.

Momentum toward full independence built through the 1970s. Premier George Walter favored complete independence rather than the British-preferred model of a wider federation of Eastern Caribbean islands, but he lost the 1976 elections to Vere Bird and the Antigua Labour Party, who initially leaned toward regional integration. By 1978, however, Bird's government had reversed course and formally announced its intention to pursue independence.

Negotiations were complicated by Barbuda, which had long chafed under Antigua's administration and sought separate territorial status; Britain rejected outright secession given the island's small population, and a compromise granting Barbuda greater internal autonomy eventually cleared the path forward. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent nation within the Commonwealth on 1 November 1981, with Vere Bird serving as the country's first prime minister.