Belize Rural South

Constituency
for the Belize House of Representatives
District| Belize
Electorate| 8,749 (2012)
Major settlements| San Pedro Town
Current constituency
Created| 1961
Party|  People's United Party
Area Representative| Andre Perez

Belize Rural South is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Andre Perez of the People's United Party (PUP).

## Founding and creation

[edit]

The Rural South constituency was created for the 1961 general election as part of a major nationwide redistricting. Out of the 13 Belize District constituencies it is one of three located outside the Belize City limits. Belize Rural South consists of the offshore cayes (islands) of Belize District, including Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker and St. George's Caye. San Pedro Town on Ambergris Caye is the constituency's main settlement.

Ever since the creation of Belize Rural Central in 1993, the name "Belize Rural South" has been something of a misnomer, as the constituency lies primarily to the north and east of the Belize District mainland.[1] In 2012 it reported an electorate of 7,100, larger than any other Belize District constituency.

## Area representatives

[edit]

Election | Area representative[2] | Party

|
|

| 1961 | Louis Sylvestre | PUP
| 1965 | Louis Sylvestre | PUP
| 1969 | Louis Sylvestre | PUP
| 1974 | Louis Sylvestre | PUP
| 1979 | Louis Sylvestre | PUP
| 1984 | Louis Sylvestre | PUP
| 1989 | Glenn Godfrey | PUP
| 1993 | Glenn Godfrey | PUP
| 1998 | Patty Arceo | PUP
| 2003 | Manuel Heredia | UDP
| 2008 | Manuel Heredia | UDP
| 2012 | Manuel Heredia | UDP
| 2015 | Manuel Heredia | UDP
| 2020 | Andre Perez | PUP

## Elections

[edit]

Election | Political result | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | ±%

|
|
|
|
|
|

2012 general election[3]
Electorate: 7,100
Turnout: 4,987 (70.24%) −3.71| | UDP hold
Majority: 453 (9.08%) −16.26 | | Manuel Heredia| UDP| 2,479| 49.71| −11.8
| Patty Arceo|  PUP| 2,026| 40.63| +4.46
| "Bobby" Robert Lopez|  VIP| 332| 6.66| -
| William "Mike" Campbell|  Independent| 24| 0.48| -
2008 general election[4]
Electorate: 5,470
Turnout: 4,045 (73.95%) −6.68| | UDP hold
Majority: 1,025 (25.34%) +21.7 | | Manuel Heredia| UDP| 2,488| 61.51| +10.09
| Murlene "Mel" Spain|  PUP| 1,463| 36.17| −11.61
| Ernesto Caliz|  NRP| 54| 1.33| -
2003 general election[5]
Electorate: 3,712
Turnout: 2,993 (80.63%) −10.47| | UDP gain from PUP
Majority: 109 (3.64%) −10.88 | | Manuel Heredia| UDP| 1,539| 51.42| +8.93
| Patty Arceo|  PUP| 1,430| 47.78| −9.23
1998 general election[6]
Electorate: 2,653
Turnout: 2,417 (91.1%) +10.45| | PUP hold
Majority: 351 (14.52%) +2.12 | | Patty Arceo| PUP| 1,378| 57.01| +0.81
| Manuel Heredia|  UDP| 1,027| 42.49| −1.31
1993 general election[7][8]
Electorate: 2,218
Turnout: 1,789 (80.65%) +12.08| | PUP hold
Majority: 221 (12.4%) −19.2 | | Glenn Godfrey| PUP| 1,005| 56.2| −8.6
| Santiago Castillo|  UDP| 784| 43.8| +10.6
1989 general election[9][10]
Electorate: 3,350
Turnout: 2,297 (68.57%) −1.53| | PUP hold
Majority: 727 (31.6%) +14.0 | | Glenn Godfrey| PUP| 1,489| 64.8| +7.2
| Rudolph Thompson|  UDP| 762| 33.2| −6.8
1984 general election[11][12]
Electorate: 2,471
Turnout: 1,732 (70.1%) −17.84| | PUP hold
Majority: 305 (17.6%) −8.1 | | Louis Sylvestre| PUP| 997| 57.6| −4.2
| Jose Marin|  UDP| 692| 40.0| +3.9
1979 general election[13]
Electorate: 2,280
Turnout: 2,005 (87.94%) +17.18| | PUP hold
Majority: 25.7% (−5.9) | | Louis Sylvestre| PUP| | 61.8| −2.2
| Gaspar Lara|  UDP| | 36.1| +3.7
1974 general election[14]
Electorate: 1,491
Turnout: 1,055 (70.76%) +0.34| | PUP hold
Majority: 31.6% (−26.3) | | Louis Sylvestre| PUP| | 64.0| −13.9
| Harry Lawrence|  UDP| | 32.4| -
1969 general election[15]
Electorate: 1,369
Turnout: 964 (70.42%) +7.77| | PUP hold
Majority: 57.9% (+14.5) | | Louis Sylvestre| PUP| | 77.9| +7.6
| Allan Anderson|  NIP| | 20.0| −6.9
1965 general election[16]
Electorate: 1,229
Turnout: 770 (62.65%) −11.59| | PUP hold
Majority: 43.4% (−22.3) | | Louis Sylvestre| PUP| | 70.3| −11.0
| Phillip Gillett|  NIP| | 26.9| +11.3
1961 general election[17]
Electorate: 1,052
Turnout: 781 (74.24%) n/a| | PUP win
Majority: 65.7% (n/a) | | Louis Sylvestre| PUP| | 81.3| -
| Todd Brown|  NIP| | 15.6| -

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Belize election maps, Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive. (accessed 20 November 2014)
2. ^ Elections Results, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 20 November 2014)
3. ^ GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS 2012, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
4. ^ 2008 General Elections Final Results , Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
5. ^ 2003 General Elections final results, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
6. ^ General Elections 1998, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
7. ^ General Elections 1993, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
8. ^ 1993 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
9. ^ General Elections 1989, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
10. ^ 1989 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
11. ^ General Elections 1984, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
12. ^ 1984 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
13. ^ General Elections 1979, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
14. ^ General Elections 1974, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
15. ^ General Elections 1969, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
16. ^ General Elections 1965, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
17. ^ General Elections 1961, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)