Following the outbreak of World War II, British, French and U.S. military forces all strengthened their presence on St. Lucia. This resulted in an influx of modernization and a change to the St. Lucian’s attitude and way of thinking.
The 1970s saw the rise of strong, nationalist movements initiated by students who had been to universities in the Caribbean, England and North America. Their ideas were fueled by the Cuban revolution, struggles elsewhere in Latin American and the Black Power movement in the United States.
St. Lucia was granted its independence from England in 1979. It chose to remain a monarchy with a government similar to Canada’s comprising an upper and a lower house, with a Governor General representing the Monarch.
The executive head of the country is the prime minister who heads a cabinet of ministers. Two government parties have emerged in St. Lucia — the United Workers Party (UWP) and the St. Lucia Labour Party — and each of them vies for control of the government.
Prior to 1997 the UWP had been in control for more than 15 years.
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