Mr Spencer's UPP won a landslide victory

Mr Spencer and four key ministers took the oath before Governor-General Sir James Carlisle at Government House in St. John’s after taking 12 of 17 parliamentary seats in Tuesday's general elections.

Prime Minister Spencer is taking over responsibility for National Security, Information, Ecclesiastical Affairs, Barbuda Affairs, Labour and Public Administration.

The four others sworn in as ministers, included Dominica-born Antiguan, Justin Simon as Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General; Lawyer Errol Cort as Minister of Finance and the Economy; Wilmoth Daniel Minister of Works and Communication, and Lawyer Harold Lovell as Minister of Tourism, Foreign Affairs, International Transportation and Trade.

But while the UPP has been celebrating, the ALP camp has been stuck with the stark reality of being ousted from power after 28 years at the helm.

Political analyst Arvel Grant, told BBC Caribbean Service that economic problems and years of scandal had dogged the Bird campaign.

"A lot of things have gone wrong for Lester Bird and it has gone wrong for a number of years now. For the better part of 10 years this government has had to be borrowing money to make up the wage bill for the public sector because of that it has not had enough funds to deal with the infrastructure and the reconstruction of the social services," Mr Grant said.

The election was also marked by corruption charges against Mr Bird’s family dynasty that has dominated Antigua and Barbuda for more than half a century.

Scandals in recent years have centred on allegations of bribery, misuse of and missing funds in the national health insurance plan, and a 13-year-old girl's charges that Mr Bird and his brother used her for sex and to procure cocaine.

Mr Bird denied the last charges. An inquiry into the allegations found there was no evidence.

"The image of the government, the fact that we had a horrible mix up in terms of the Medical Benefits Scheme, millions of dollars seem to have gone in directions that need to be clarified," Mr Grant said.

Mr Grant said the introduction of the new electoral machinery that included voter identification cards and a new voters list had served to enhance the UPP’s chances.

"It became a fairer election once the list had been cleaned up the will of the people which had clearly been trying to break through a number of elections cycles finally came to the fore," Mr Grant said.

As the newly elected leader, one of Mr Spencer's first appointments was to be at Caricom's meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis - where the fate of Haiti in the regional integration movement will be discussed.

But Mr Spencer has said he will miss the summit because he is busy forming a government, and preparing for the presentation of the national budget early next week.

Instead, newly appointed Minister of Tourism, Foreign Affairs, International Transportation and Trade Mr Lovell, will be heading Antigua and Barbuda's delegation to the Caricom meeting.

The Spencer administration also plans to move quickly to pass legislation on integrity and the prevention of corruption.