How Grenada's government works: Crown, Cabinet and the 15-seat House

Grenada is a parliamentary democracy on the Westminster model: King Charles III is head of state, represented on the island by a Governor-General, but real executive power sits with the Prime Minister and a Cabinet that must keep the support of the elected House of Representatives. The House has 15 seats won in single-member constituencies; a 13-member Senate is appointed rather than elected. Final appeals still go to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, because Grenadian voters have twice declined to change that.

Who is the head of state, and who actually governs?

The monarch is head of state; the Prime Minister governs. The Governor-General, a Grenadian appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, performs the formal acts of state: opening Parliament, assenting to bills, swearing in ministers and appointing senators. By convention these powers are exercised on ministerial advice. The Governor-General's independent discretion is narrow and mostly matters in moments of crisis, such as a disputed majority.

The Prime Minister is the member of the House who commands a majority there. He or she chooses the Cabinet from members of both chambers, sets the policy agenda and decides, within the five-year constitutional limit, when to call an election. Readers coming from presidential systems sometimes overestimate the role of the Governor-General; in day-to-day policy, including immigration and the citizenship by investment programme, it is Cabinet that decides.

How are Grenada's MPs and senators chosen?

Voters elect 15 MPs; the Senate is appointed. Each of the 15 constituencies, spread over the six parishes of the main island plus Carriacou and Petite Martinique, returns one member by simple plurality. That system can produce lopsided results. The New National Party (NNP) under Keith Mitchell won all 15 seats in both 2013 and 2018, leaving no elected opposition at all. In June 2022 the NDC won 9 of the 15 seats and Dickon Mitchell, a lawyer in his forties with no prior ministerial career, became Prime Minister.

The Senate composition means the government of the day always has a working majority there too. Its value lies more in debate and in giving the opposition a platform, which became especially important in the years when the House had no opposition members.

Why does Grenada still appeal to the Privy Council?

Because changing the final court requires a referendum, and voters said no. Grenada's 1973 Constitution entrenches key provisions, including the appellate structure, so amendment needs a two-thirds vote in the House and approval by two-thirds of voters at a referendum. In November 2016, seven reform bills went to the polls, covering items such as fixed election dates, term limits for prime ministers, a renamed state ("Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique") and the Caribbean Court of Justice. All seven were rejected. A second referendum in November 2018, this time on the Caribbean Court of Justice alone, also failed.

Analysts usually explain the votes less as attachment to London than as a lack of trust in the process: low public consultation, partisan framing and a feeling that the reforms were packaged by the government of the day. For anyone holding or applying for Grenadian citizenship, the practical point is that constitutional change on the island is slow and deliberately hard.

How does the government announce decisions?

Most policy news comes from post-Cabinet press briefings and releases published by the Government Information Service. The Government Information Service (GIS) distributes official statements, ministerial addresses and Cabinet conclusions, and the Prime Minister's office uses a press secretary to brief journalists. Laws themselves are published in the Government Gazette, and the official versions of statutes and statutory rules and orders are what courts and agencies apply.

For readers following immigration or investment policy, this distinction matters. A press release may announce that Cabinet "approved changes" to a fee or a rule; the change only binds once it is published as a regulation or amendment. Our guide to Grenadian immigration and citizenship follows the same principle: we treat gazetted rules as fact and announcements as intentions.

What role do the courts play?

Grenada shares a regional court system with its neighbours. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, with headquarters in Castries, Saint Lucia, serves the members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. Its High Court sits in St George's, and its Court of Appeal travels between member states. Magistrates' courts deal with minor criminal and civil matters. Above them all sits the Privy Council.

Shared courts bring an advantage that smaller states could not easily afford alone: judges are rotated and appointed by a regional commission, which helps insulate the bench from local politics. Investors with property or company disputes in Grenada will therefore deal with a judiciary whose case law is common to Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and others.

What usually surprises newcomers about Grenadian politics?

• Scale. With a population of roughly 125,000, constituencies are small enough that many voters know their MP personally. Politics is intensely local, and ministers are approachable in a way that is unusual elsewhere.
• Two-party rhythm. Power has alternated mainly between the NNP and the NDC since the 1990s. Swings can be dramatic because of the first-past-the-post system.
• History in the background. The 1979 revolution and the events of October 1983 still shape political language. Readers who want that background can start with our Culture & People section.
• Regional decision-making. Currency, banking supervision and parts of the courts are run jointly through the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the OECS. A Grenadian government cannot devalue the Eastern Caribbean dollar on its own.
• Citizenship policy is political. The citizenship by investment programme is debated in Parliament and at election time; both main parties have kept it, but they argue about how the money is used.

What does this mean for people thinking of living in Grenada long term?

Stable institutions with slow formal change. Grenada has had peaceful changes of government at the ballot box for decades, an independent regional judiciary and a currency peg that has held since 1976. At the same time, policy on residence permits, land purchase by foreigners and investor citizenship is set by Cabinet and statutory instruments, so it can move faster than the Constitution. Anyone planning to settle should follow the primary announcements, read the gazetted rules, and assume that fees and thresholds published today may be revised within a few years.

The calendar is also worth knowing. Parliament must be dissolved no later than five years after its first sitting, so the next general election is due by 2027. Elections in Grenada have not historically ended investor programmes, but new governments do revisit how they are run.

Frequently asked questions