Chris Gibbs will be the new Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance.
This was announced by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley earlier Wednesday, as she confirmed the resignation of his predecessor, Dwight Sutherland.
“After discussion, I received earlier today a request from the Honourable Dwight Sutherland to be relieved of his ministerial portfolio in housing, lands and maintenance. I have accepted his request,” Mottley said in a video statement.
“He will remain as Member of Parliament for St George South. This has been a request driven by him for personal reasons.”
Gibbs, who was elected in January 2022 as the Member of Parliament for St Michael West was promoted from the back bench.
Mottley thanked Sutherland for his service and welcomed Gibbs.
The Mottley administration has been hit by several resignations in this second term.
In February 2025, both Marsha Caddle and Corey Lane announced they would be relinquishing their respective portfolios, but would remain in the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). Caddle, the MP for St Michael South Central was at the time Minister of Innovation, Industry, Science and Technology; while Lane, the representative for the City of Bridgetown, was Minister in the Attorney General’s Office with responsibility for crime prevention.
Former MP for St James North Edmund Hinkson resigned in April – but remained in the party – prompting a by-election which swept Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman into the House of Assembly.
Current Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne resigned from the BLP in February 2024. (SAT)
