A by-election after the death of the Prime Minister Errol Barrow, gaining his parliamentary seat for Saint John in 1987.

A leadership election was held to determine the future of the Democratic Labour Party (Barbados), where Clyde Mascoll defeated Freundel Stuart.

The Governor-General scheduled a by-election for 20 January 2011[16] to fill the vacant seat in the House of Assembly formerly held by Thompson.

At a media briefing at his official Ilaro Court residence on 14 May 2010, Thompson, accompanied by his personal physician, Richard Ishmael, said that he had been suffering with stomach pains since early March.

[20][21] A short time later Thompson's personal physician, Richard Ishmael, informed the general public that the Prime Minister was suffering from pancreatic cancer.

[25] Thompson was the third sitting prime minister of Barbados to die in office following the deaths of Tom Adams in 1985 and Errol Barrow in 1987.

"[30] Barbadian pop star Rihanna, who was appointed by Thompson as an 'Honorary Ambassador of Culture' of Barbados, also expressed her sadness at the passing of the Prime Minister.

[5] That viewing will be upstairs in the chamber of the House of Assembly and would follow Barbados' Table of Precedence for members of Government from the Governor General down to MPs.

On Monday, 1 November from 10am-5pm a general public viewing took place in Thompson's home constituency of Saint John at the Parish Church.

The official state funeral for the Prime Minister took place on 3 November at the Kensington Oval stadium and was strictly a ticket only event.

Over ten thousand persons, including foreign dignitaries and diplomatic representatives, attended the state funeral.

[6] Thousands more lined the streets of Bridgetown that morning to pay their respects as the official funeral procession made its way through the city en route to the Oval.

[7][8] Both the state funeral at the Kensington Oval and the interment at the St. John's (Anglican) Parish Church were broadcast live by CBC TV 8.