Adams, Grantley Herbert (1898–1971)

Barbadian centre-left politician, prime minister 1954–58, and West Indies' Federation prime minister 1958–62. In 1938 he formed the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), the country's first political party. As prime minister of Barbados he promoted social reforms, including improvements in health provision and old-age pensions, but his move towards the centre ground led to a split in the BLP in 1955, with the formation of the left-wing Democratic Labour Party (DLP) by Errol Barrow; the DLP took power in 1961 after full internal self-government had been achieved.

Strongly committed to Caribbean integration, Adams was prime minister of the Federation of the West Indies from its formation in 1958 until its dissolution in 1962. After his party's defeat in December 1961, he remained as BLP leader until 1970, rebuilding its strength and enabling his son, Tom Adams, to become prime minister in 1976.

Adams studied classics at Oxford University and trained as a barrister in England, before returning to the Caribbean to practise from the mid-1920s. After riots swept across Barbados in 1938, he formed the BLP the following year, and later became president of the Barbados Workers' Union (BWU) in 1944, winning for the union the right of collective bargaining.