Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth of Dominica 1978 – present

                   Patrick John: 3 November 1978 to 21 June 1979

                   Oliver Seraphine: 21 June 1979 to 21 July 1980

                   Dame Eugenia Charles: 21 July 1980 to 14 June 1995

                   Edison James: 14 June 1995 to 3 February 2000

                   Rosie Douglas: 3 February to 1 October 2000

                   Pierre Charles: 1 October 2000 to 6 January 2004

                   Roosevelt Skerrit: 8 January 2004 to date

Colonel Patrick Roland John (b. 7 January 1938) is a former Prime Minister of Dominica, having served from 27 July 1974 to 21 June 1979. During his tenure, Dominica gained independence from the United Kingdom. He was a successful trade union leader and a mayor of Roseau before taking on prime ministerial duties. After his resignation, John unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Eugenia Charles with the backing of white supremacist groups (in what became dubbed "Operation Red Dog"). As a result, he was jailed for twelve years.

Oliver James "O. J." Seraphin (born August 2, 1943, also Oliver James Seraphine) was the Prime Minister of Dominica from June 25, 1979, until July 21, 1980.

Dame Eugenia Charles, DBE (May 15, 1919 – September 6, 2005) was the Prime Minister of Dominica from July 21, 1980 until June 14, 1995. She was the first female prime minister in the Caribbean, and the first woman elected in her own right as head of government in North America. She was Dominica's first and to date only female prime minister.

Born Mary Eugenia Charles in Pointe Michel in Saint Luke parish, she studied overseas at universities in London, England, and Toronto, Canada. she began campaigning in politics during the 1960s against restrictions on press freedom. She helped to found the Dominica Freedom Party, which she served as leader from the early 1970s until 1995. She was elected to Parliament in 1970 and became Opposition Leader in 1975.

Though she and her party were frequently described as conservative, this was partially in comparison to socialist leaders in the Caribbean, as she did support some social welfare programmes. Other issues that were important to her were anti-corruption measures and individual freedom.

Eugenia Charles became Prime Minister when her party won elections shortly after Dominica gained full independence from British rule in 1979. She became more widely known to the outside world during the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, when, in her role as chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), she appeared on television with Ronald Reagan to offer her support.

For her uncompromising stance on this and other issues, she became known as the "Iron Lady of the Caribbean" (after the original "Iron Lady", Margaret Thatcher). Shortly after her retirement from politics her party lost the 1995 elections. She also served as Foreign Minister of Dominica from 1980 to 1990. She was awarded a damehood in 1992.

On 30 August 2005, Dame Eugenia Charles was taken to a hospital in Fort-de-France, Martinique, for hip replacement surgery and died from complications soon after on 6 September, aged 86.

Edison Chenfil James (born October 18, 1943 in Marigot) was the prime minister of Dominica from June 14, 1995 to February 3, 2000 as well as the Member of Parliament for the Marigot constituency from 1990. He graduated from the Dominica Grammar School. He holds a Bsc in Botany from the University of East London, a MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Reading and a post graduate diploma in crop protection technology from Imperial College. He worked in a number of local and regional institutions including the Caribbean Development Bank, but it was as manager of the Dominica Banana Marketing Company that he rose to prominence on the island. He was instrumental in resuscitating the island's critical banana industry after Hurricane David. In 1988 he headed a committee which founded the United Workers' Party and became its first political leader. From its inception the party was assailed as a group of "disgruntled businessmen"; or "greedy businessmen" by the established parties, but in 1990 the party captured 6 seats in the 21 seat House of Assembly and James became the leader of the opposition. As leader of the opposition, he criticized the ruling Dominica Freedom Party for instituting an economic-citizen programme whereby persons could become citizens of the island for a fee. In the run-up to the 1995 elections, James accused the Eugenia Charles-led government of bugging his party's offices. A commission formed to investigate the matter revealed that the allegations were baseless.

In the June 12, 1995 elections he led the party to victory with 11 out of 21 seats and became Prime Minister. By then the banana industry was no longer vibrant and so the James-led government embarked on an ambitious program of economic diversification. They passed legislation allowing the creation of off-shore business. In addition, they sought to allow an Australian mining company to conduct exploratory drilling on the island but that move was subsequently abandoned due to criticisms that it would sully the island's reputation as "The Nature Isle". When the UWP government divested its shares in the island's sole power company, the move was met with vociferous condemnation by the opposition. The Opposition was also aroused to indignation by the government's decision to offer asylum to Saudi dissident Mohammad al-Massari, a decision which James later admitted was based on a hope of increased British aid. The government was also pilloried for the economic citizenship program which it had re-engineered and enlarged when they came into office; some thought that the island could become a haven for criminal elements. This criticism was fuelled by the revelation that Australian fugitive Christopher Skase had used the programme to become a citizen of the island. Trying to increase the number of stay-over visitors to the island, the UWP government sought to build an international airport, but this was again met with a cacophony of criticism as some thought that the country would not be able to pay back the debt which would have had to be contracted. The government purchased the requisite lands for the airport but did not have time to physically begin the project. The James-led government was dogged by charges of corruption and these allegations only increased as their term progessed.

James' government did produce some significant achievements. There was a proliferation in the number of scholarships available for secondary and college education. There was some success in diversifying the island's monocrop argricultural sector away from bananas and towards other crops. They also increased public spending on capital project including roads, schools and sea walls. These project had a visible impact on the economy and the economy grew every year under James' leadership. This sort of economic program was branded 'tou-pas-touism', a Creole patois word meaning 'everywhere'. The opposition sought to downplay the growing economy since they felt that it was only being financed by debt. Feeling confident with his government's achievements, James called a snap election six months before they were due in order to quell the allegations of corruption.

In the elections of January 2000, the party suffered a surprise defeat. Though they won the popular vote, the party lost 3 seats and its majority in parliament. No party won enough seats to form a government on its own. Dominica's other two major parties, the Dominica Freedom Party and the Dominica Labour Party, had agreed to a co-operation agreement to win the election and it was no surprise when they made a coalition against the Workers' Party. James was replaced as prime minister by Roosevelt Douglas.

From February 2000 he returned to the office of leader of the opposition. Back in opposition James called on the government to prosecute the charges of corruption in order to clear his party's name, but the government never charged any members of his party with wrongdoings. James was sued for libel by Eugenia Charles; James agreed to compensate as well as to publicly apologise to Dame Eugenia. In the May 2005 elections, the party conducted a vigorous campaign but they lost one seat in parliament. James continued on as leader of the opposition. In July 2005 James was appointed to the CARICOM leaders of government and parliamentary opposition parties committee. However in December 2005, he did not seek re-election as party leader and he was replaced as leader by Earl Williams. In July 2007 he ceded the office of Leader of the Opposition to Williams.

A February 2007 poll conducted by Caribbean Development Research Services Inc (CADRES) found that though he is no longer leader of the United Workers' Party, Mr. James still enjoyed considerable support. 32% of respondents favored his leadership, compared to 58% for Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and 6% for current United Workers' Party leader Earl Williams.^[1]

Roosevelt Bernard Douglas (October 15, 1941–October 1, 2000) was a Dominican politician. In 2000 he was prime minister of the Caribbean island for eight months, from 3 February 2000 until his death later that year.

While attending university in Canada, Rosie Douglas garnered fame as being one of the instigators of the Sir George Williams Computer Riot of 1969 (aka Concordia Computer Riot). [1]

Douglas appealed during his political career to the cause of the socialist radical reformers.^{[citation needed]} At the parliamentary elections on 31 January 2000 he led the Dominica Labour Party to victory against the governing United Workers Party of Prime Minister Edison James. He formed a coalition with the moderate Dominica Freedom Party and began office on 3 February 2000.

After only eight months in the office Douglas was found on 1 October 2000 dead in his house in Portsmouth. He had returned only one day before from state visits to Australia, Taiwan, Canada and Jamaica.

Pierre Charles was named as his successor.

Pierre Charles (June 30, 1954 – January 6, 2004) was Prime Minister of Dominica from 2000 to 2004.

He was born in Grand Bay in Saint Patrick parish. A member of the Dominica Labour Party, he served in several cabinet posts including communication and works. While serving as foreign minister in the government of Rosie Douglas, he was officially named prime minister on October 3, 2000, two days after Douglas's death.

He became ill in February 2003, and had angioplasty surgery. Concerns about his health led to calls for him to step down. However, he continued to serve as prime minister until his death, which occurred during a medical leave of absence. Osborne Riviere, who had been acting prime minister during his leave, became prime minister in his stead.

Pierre Charles is an Honorary Member of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

Roosevelt Skerrit (born June 8, 1972) is the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica as well the Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency. In addition to being Prime Minister, he holds the ministerial portfolios of Finance, Planning, National Security and Overseas Nationals. Regionally, he is the Chairman of the OECS and Caricom Lead Head of Government with respect to Free Movement as part of the implementation of the CSME.

Skerrit is an alumnus of the Dominica Grammar School. He began his college education at New Mexico State University and transferred to the University of Mississippi, from where he graduated with a BA in English and Psychology. As a high school senior he was elected 'head boy', President of the Student Council. While at New Mexico State University he was also president of the Dominica Students Association.^[1] He was initially a member of the youth arm of the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP), the Young Freedom Movement, but became a member of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) when he returned to Dominica from college. He was an English lecturer at the Clifton-Dupigny Community College until he was elected to parliament for the Vieille Case constituency in the February 2000 elections.

He initially served as Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, and upon the death of Roosevelt Douglas he was made minister of Education, Sports and Youth affairs. As Minister of Education, he established the Dominica State College. He also led a secret mission to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Barbados, irrespective of the fact that Dominica already had diplomatic relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan.^[2] On the death of Pierre Charles on January 6, 2004 he was nominated to be the country's prime minister and was sworn on January 8, aged 31.^[3] After becoming prime minister, he was elected as the Leader of the Dominica Labour Party.^[4] Skerrit is currently the youngest head of government in the world.

In April 2004 Skerrit established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, severing relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).^[5] As part of the move Beijing agreed to give the country an aid package of over US$100,000,000.

In the 2005 General Elections he retained his seat by an even wider margin and his party gained one seat in the Parliament. His party won 12 seats in the parliament and 52% of the popular vote.^[6] The DLP defeated the Edison James-led opposition United Workers' Party who won 8 seats and 44% of the popular vote. The opposition sought to criticize his age and relative inexperience, as well as pointing to the country's generally poor economic performance since the 2000 elections.^[7] The DLP response was that the poor economic performance was due to irresponsible borrowing during the UWP administration. Further, he noted the country's aid package from China and used his young age to mobilize youth voters.

Skerrit has forged a close relationship with leftist leaders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, which has resulted in Dominica receiving substantial aid from Cuba and Venezuela. Dominica is set to play a major part in the Petrocaribe initiative; crude oil from Venezuela will be stored on the island for distribution to other islands. Further, the Venezuelan government has given Dominica a US$10.1 million grant for the expansion of the Melville Hall Airport and forgiven the island nation's US$1.5 million debt to Venezuela. On February 16, 2007 Chávez paid a state visit to Roseau, a rare visit by a major head of state to the island, where he inaugurated a fuel storage tank as part of the Petrocaribe initiative.^[8] Skerrit's administration agreed to join the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.^[9] In addition, Skerrit announced that his government had agreed to the construction of a $80,000,000USD refinery on the island.

The proposed refinery has prompted criticism from some environmentalist groups that an oil refinery is inconsistent with the island's image as an eco-tourist destination.