Mesopotamia (Belize House constituency)

Electoral district in Belize City, formed 1961

Mesopotamia

Constituency
for the Belize House of Representatives
District| Belize
Electorate| 2,253 (2025)
Major settlements| Belize City (part)
Current constituency
Created| 1961
Party|  United Democratic Party
Area Representative| Lee Mark Chang

Mesopotamia, sometimes abbreviated as Mesop, is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2025 by Lee Mark Chang of the United Democratic Party (UDP).

## Profile

[edit]

The Mesopotamia constituency was created for the 1961 general election as part of a major nationwide redistricting. It currently comprises much of central Belize City, surrounded by the Collet, Queen's Square and Albert constituencies.[1] The UDP has continuously held Mesopotamia since the 1979 general election, longer than any other constituency. It is widely considered a strong UDP safe seat.[2]

Longtime representative Michael Finnegan stood down at the 2020 general election and was succeeded by his nephew, internationally known rapper Shyne Barrow.[3] In 2025, Shyne lost re-election to Lee Mark Chang;[4] the former subsequently resigned as leader of the UDP.[5]

## Area representatives

[edit]

Lee Mark Chang, current area representative Election | Area representative[6] | Party

|
|

| 1961 | C. L. B. Rogers | PUP
| 1965 | C. L. B. Rogers | PUP
| 1969 | C. L. B. Rogers | PUP
| 1974 | C. L. B. Rogers | PUP
| 1979 | Curl Thompson | UDP
| 1984 | Curl Thompson | UDP
| 1989 | Curl Thompson | UDP
| 1993 | Michael Finnegan | UDP
| 1998 | Michael Finnegan | UDP
| 2003 | Michael Finnegan | UDP
| 2008 | Michael Finnegan | UDP
| 2012 | Michael Finnegan | UDP
| 2015 | Michael Finnegan | UDP
| 2020 | Shyne Barrow | UDP
| 2025 | Lee Mark Chang | UDP

## Elections

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

2025 general election[7]
Electorate: 2,253
Turnout: 1,514 (67.20%) −8.12| | UDP hold
Majority: 98 (6.47%) −2.80 | | Lee Mark Chang| UDP| 601| 39.70| -
| Lawrence Russel Ellis|  PUP| 503| 33.22| −10.57
| Shyne Barrow|  UDP| 318| 21.00| -
2020 general election[8]
Electorate: 2,277
Turnout: 1,715 (75.32%) +17.98| | UDP hold
Majority: 159 (9.27%) −46.56 | | Shyne Barrow| UDP| 910| 53.06| −23.82
| (Dr.) Candice Pitts|  PUP| 751| 43.79| +22.74
2015 general election[9]
Electorate: 3,711
Turnout: 2,128 (57.34%) −3.47| | UDP hold
Majority: 1,188 (55.83%) −8.93 | | Michael Finnegan| UDP| 1,636| 76.88| −4.72
| Dorla Vaughan|  PUP| 448| 21.05| +4.21
2012 general election[10]
Electorate: 3,710
Turnout: 2,256 (60.81%) −5.21| | UDP hold
Majority: 1,461 (64.76%) +9.99 | | Michael Finnegan| UDP| 1,841| 81.60| +4.68
| Philip Palacio|  PUP| 380| 16.84| −5.31
2008 general election[11]
Electorate: 3,255
Turnout: 2,149 (66.02%) −3.86| | UDP hold
Majority: 1,177 (54.77%) +20.4 | | Michael Finnegan| UDP| 1,653| 76.92| +10.0
| Austin Waight|  PUP| 476| 22.15| −10.4
2003 general election[12]
Electorate: 2,178
Turnout: 1,892 (69.88%) −14.3| | UDP hold
Majority: 526 (34.37%) +20.1 | | Michael Finnegan| UDP| 1,024| 66.92| +10.34
| Philip Brackett|  PUP| 498| 32.55| −9.76
1998 general election[13]
Electorate: 1,707
Turnout: 1,437 (84.18%) +26.81| | UDP hold
Majority: 205 (14.27%) −1.73 | | Michael Finnegan| UDP| 813| 56.58| −1.42
| Gilbert Ray Lightburn|  PUP| 608| 42.31| +0.31
| Lisburn Earl Peters|  PDP| 9| 0.63| -
1993 general election[14][15]
Electorate: 3,052
Turnout: 1,751 (57.37%) +1.66| | UDP hold
Majority: 281 (16.0%) +8.3 | | Michael Finnegan| UDP| 1,016| 58.0| +4.9
| Steve Latchman|  PUP| 735| 42.0| −3.4
1989 general election[16][17]
Electorate: 2,818
Turnout: 1,570 (55.71%) −5.43| | UDP hold
Majority: 121 (7.7%) −30.8 | | Curl Thompson| UDP| 834| 53.1| −15.3
| Steve Latchman|  PUP| 713| 45.4| +15.5
1984 general election[18][19]
Electorate: 2,460
Turnout: 1,504 (61.14%) −26.0| | UDP hold
Majority: 38.5% (+34.4) | | Curl Thompson| UDP| | 68.4| +17.1
| Myrtle Palacio|  PUP| | 29.9| −17.3
1979 general election[20]
Electorate: 2,489
Turnout: 2,169 (87.14%) +14.89| | UDP gain from PUP
Majority: 4.1% (−4.7) | | Curl Thompson| UDP| | 51.3| +6.9
| C. L. B. Rogers|  PUP| | 47.2| −5.5
1974 general election[21]
Electorate: 2,281
Turnout: 1,648 (72.25%) +8.65| | PUP hold
Majority: 8.8% (−0.7) | | C. L. B. Rogers| PUP| | 52.7| −1.2
| Curl Thompson|  UDP| | 44.4| -
1969 general election[22]
Electorate: 2,066
Turnout: 1,314 (63.6%) −7.07| | PUP hold
Majority: 9.5% (+3.4) | | C. L. B. Rogers| PUP| | 53.9| +1.7
| Colville Young|  NIP| | 43.9| −2.2
1965 general election[23]
Electorate: 3,396
Turnout: 2,400 (70.67%) −9.02| | PUP hold
Majority: 6.1% (−27.9) | | C. L. B. Rogers| PUP| | 52.2| −10.2
| Colville Young|  NIP| | 46.1| +17.7
1961 general election[24]
Electorate: 2,501
Turnout: 1,993 (79.69%) n/a| | PUP win
Majority: 34.0% (n/a) | | C. L. B. Rogers| PUP| | 62.4| -
| Erlean Casasola|  NIP| | 28.4| -
| Edward Usher|  CDP| | 8.6| -

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Belize election maps, Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive. (accessed 20 November 2014)
2. ^ "Finnegan wakes to color Mesopotamia red", Great Belize Television, 14 February 2012. (accessed 20 November 2014)
3. ^ Rapper Shyne Barrow Is Elected to Belize's House of Representatives
4. ^ Keme-Palacio, Benita (13 March 2025). "Honourable No More, Shyne Loses". Channel 5 Belize. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
5. ^ Palacio, Horace (18 March 2025). "Shyne Barrow steps down as UDP leader following election defeat". Breaking Belize News. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
6. ^ Elections Results, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 20 November 2014)
7. ^ "General Election Official Results" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Department. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
8. ^ "General Election Official Results" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Department. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
9. ^ "General Election Official Results" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Department. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
10. ^ GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS 2012, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
11. ^ 2008 General Elections Final Results , Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
12. ^ 2003 General Elections final results, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
13. ^ General Elections 1998, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
14. ^ General Elections 1993, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
15. ^ 1993 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
16. ^ General Elections 1989, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
17. ^ 1989 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
18. ^ General Elections 1984, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
19. ^ 1984 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
20. ^ General Elections 1979, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
21. ^ General Elections 1974, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
22. ^ General Elections 1969, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
23. ^ General Elections 1965, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
24. ^ General Elections 1961, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)

National Assembly of Belize

Preceded by

Dangriga

|  Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition
1983–1984  | Succeeded by

Corozal South East