Prime Ministers of Grenada

Dr. The Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Matthew Gairy, son of Douglas & Theresa Gairy, was born in Dunfermline, St. Andrew’s on February 18, 1922.  He received his early education at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School, La Filette, and St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic School, Grenville. He was an altar server and played a leading role in church activities in the Grenville Parish Church, so much so at the age of 12 he was asked to preach the homily for the Feast of the Holy Family. He became a teacher at his Alma Mater, St. Mary’s R.C. School at La Filette, and after a short stint he migrated to Trinidad where he worked at the U.S. Military Base for a short time.  He then moved on to Aruba towards the end of 1943 to work in the oil fields where he became actively involved in the Trade Union Movement. During his stay in the Dutch island, he did a correspondence course with a view to pursuing a career in Law. He, however, abandoned these studies and returned to Grenada.  In August 1948, E.M. Gairy married Cynthia Clyne, a highly talented and respected young lady from St. David’s, who had already made her mark in social work.  Their two   children -  Marcelle, an accomplished Lawyer and Jennifer, herself, a university graduate who majored in Languages in France, proceeded on to the US to pursue a career in Real Estate.  Sir Eric who was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the UK for his contribution to politics and public life, became Grenada’s first Prime Minister in 1974 when Grenada gained independence from Great Britain. His 1951 introduction to the Grenadian scene put him in the envious position of the “Working Class Hero” who won for them a better deal on the estates and other ‘blue collar’ jobs. Even his detractors agree that he was a “Social Revolutionary”. He managed to live to the age of 75 and passed on in August of 1997, having returned to Grenada on January 21^st, 1984 after four and one half years in exile in the US after his overthrow in 1979.

On February 7^th, 1996, Dr. The Rt. Hon. Sir Eric was officially named Father of Independence!

Comrade Maurice Rupert Bishop – Grenada’s Second Prime Minister was born in 1944 on the island of Aruba in the Dutch West Indies.  He moved with his parents to Grenada in 1950 and became enrolled as a student of the Wesley Hall Primary School and the St. George’s Roman Catholic Primary School from which he won a scholarship to the Presentation Brothers College.

At Presentation, he won the Principal’s Gold Medal for “outstanding academic and all-round ability”.  He was President of the Students’ Union, President of the Debating Society, and Foundation Member and President of the Historical Society, Editor of the College newspaper and co-founder of the Grenada Assembly of Youth and Truth, an organization aimed at raising the consciousness of Grenadian youth.

After leaving school, he worked at the Supreme Court Registry for a short while before entering Gray’s Inn, London to study law. Parallel with this study, he gained a degree at London University’s Holborn College of  Law.

He then began post-graduate work at King’s College, in the field of Grenada’s constitutional development, but left this to take up employment in the British Civil Service as a Surtax Examiner. He finally returned in 1969 to the Inns of Court and successfully completed his Bar Finals examination.

In London, he became President of the West Indian Students’ Society, and was a leading member of the Campaign against Racial Discrimination and co-founded a Legal Aid Clinic.

Returning to Grenada in 1970, he took an active interest in politics. He subsequently formed a political movement – “Movement of the Assemblies of the People” (MAP) and in 1973 he merged his organization with the “Joint Effort for Welfare Education and Liberation” (JEWEL) to become known as the New JEWEL Movement (NJM).

In 1976 general elections were held and Mr. Bishop was successful in winning one of the three seats gained by the NJM in the House of Representatives and became Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition.  In 1979, he led a successful armed uprising against the sitting Administration of Dr. The Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Gairy, and became Prime Minister in the People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG).

Due to a bitter internal struggle within the PRG, Prime Minister Bishop was executed by members of the Peoples Revolutionary Army on Fort Rupert (Fort George) on October 19, 1983.  He was married to Angella Redhead and together they had two children, John & Nadia. He also fathered a son Vladimir now deceased with Jacqueline Creft – a Cabinet Minister of the PRG who was executed with him on Fort Rupert (now Fort George).

The Rt. Hon. Herbert Augustus Blaize – Grenada’s Third Prime Minister was born in Beausejour, Carriacou in 1918.  He received his early education at the Grenada Boys’ Secondary School on a scholarship he won at Hillsborough Government Primary School.

Having successfully completed his secondary education, he entered the civil service in 1937 and was posted in Sauteurs, where he met a near fatal injury which changed his life forever.

He migrated to Aruba in 1945 where he met his wife Venetia Davidson and subsequently they both had five children. Due to persistent health problems caused by his earlier injury, he returned to Carriacou and spent quality time rallying to become a member of the Grenada National Party (GNP) founded by Dr. John Watts (an American trained Grenadian Dentist) to mark the beginning of his long political career.

Herbert Blaize has the claim to fame of being Grenada’s first Chief Minister and First Premier when Grenada was introduced to the ministerial system of government and Crown Colony forms of Government, respectively.

In 1967, he had to relinquish the office of Premier to Eric Gairy whose GULP won the  elections of that year. He was Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition until in 1976 when his GNP joined the Bishop’s NJM and 

Winston Whyte’s UPP to form the People’s Alliance and the GULP won those elections, and Maurice Bishop took up the position of Leader of The Opposition.

When Grenada was returned to parliamentary democracy, Mr. Blaize’s New National Party won the 1984 elections and he became Prime Minister until he passed on in 1989.

May it be known that The Rt. Hon. Herbert Blaize was the longest serving member of the House of Representatives in the history of Grenada – at the time of his death.

Mr. Ben Jospeh Jones – Grenada’s Fourth Prime Minister was born in St. Andrew’s in 1924 and was first educated at the Belair Presbyterian Primary School. On immigrating to the United Kingdom, he entered Chiswick Polytechnic, studied at Gray’s Inn and the University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws Degree.  

Mr. Jones worked in England on an attachment to a firm of solicitors from 1962 to 1964 before returning to Grenada to establish himself in private practice. The following year he accepted an appointment to serve as a Magistrate. Within the public service, he was appointed Senior Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and following the 1967 elections, he was appointed an Opposition Senator where he served until 1979. 

Mr. Jones was part of The Rt. Hon. Herbert Blaize’s NNP group who won his St. Andrew’s South West constituency in the 1984 elections, and was appointed Minister of External Affairs & Legal Affairs among others within the NNP administration. In 1989 he was made Deputy Prime Minister to his ailing leader and following the death of Prime Minister Herbert Blaize in 1989, he became Prime Minister – albeit for a short period when his party lost the 1990 general elections. He agreed to support the candidacy of Sir Nicholas Brathwaite as Prime Minister and became Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Lands and Fisheries under the new administration. In 1991, Mr. Jones returned to private practice before succumbing to a stroke and subsequently passing on.

Sir Nicholas Alexander Brathwaite – Grenada’s Fifth Prime Minister, was born in 1925 at Mt. Pleasant, Carriacou, attended the Mt. Pleasant Government Primary School and the Hillsborough Government Primary School before moving on to the Grenada Boys Secondary School on mainland Grenada. His education continued at the Teachers’ Training College in Trinidad and the University of the West Indies where he annexed the Bachelor of Education degree.

Sir Nicholas too, had some work exposure in the Dutch West Indies at an oil refinery in Curacao. Apart from that short stint, he spent most of his working life between 1945 and 1974 in the field of education.

Sir Nicholas had his start as a primary school teacher, then rose to be principal of a primary school, and moved on to become an Assistant Inspector of Schools, Senior Tutor at the Grenada Teachers’ College and, in 1968 became Principal of the College.

In 1969 he was appointed to the prestigious position of Chief Education Officer until in 1974 when he moved on to Guyana to assume the office of Regional Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme.

In 1984, Sir Nicholas returned to Grenada to take up the position of Head of the Interim Government which supervised the 1984 general elections when Grenada returned to parliamentary democracy after the demise of the revolution in 1983.  Upon the dissolution of the Interim Government, he was appointed Executive Advisor to Prime Minister Herbert Blaize.

He entered into direct politics in 1989 when he was invited and subsequently elected Political Leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). His party won 7 of the 15 seats in the 1990 General Elections and he was able to woo two other successful members of another party to his NDC and was appointed Prime Minister of Grenada, representing the constituency of Carriacou & Petit Martinique.

In 1994 Sir Nicholas resigned as NDC’s Political Leader, demitted office as Prime Minister in early 1995, and remained as a Member of Parliament until the elections of June that same year.

In the late forties, Sir Nicholas was Lawn Tennis Champion at the Government training College in Trinidad and, in 1954 he captained the Curacao Cricket Team.  He is the co-founder of the Grenada Umpires Association, and was an active member of the Trade Union Movement, serving as President of the Carrriacou branch of the Grenada Union of Teachers and President of the Grenada Civil Service Association. 

Sir Nicholas is highly respected and considered to be the most outstanding elected Grenadian Leader since Independence.

Mr. George Ignatius Brizan -  Grenada’s Sixth Prime Minister was born in 1942.  He was educated at St. Dominic’s Roman Catholic Primary School and at Presentation Brothers’ College before moving on to the University of Calgary, Canada, Carlton University, Canada, the University of the West Indies and the Grenada Teachers College.

From 1963 – 1984, Mr. Brizan was employed by the Government of Grenada in the distinguished field of education. During this twenty year period, he taught at the Grenada Boys Secondary School and later at the Institute of Further Education (now T. A. Marryshow Community College). He landed the top position in the Ministry of Education as Chief Education Officer.

Mr. Brizan has been an outstanding teacher whose positive impact on many leading Grenadians around the region and the world over cannot be denied. He is the recipient of several international fellowships and awards.

In 1984 Mr. Brizan entered politics and was successful at the polls for three consecutive terms.  He is both a celebrated historian and economist, and recently after his decision to retire from active politics, he has taken to writing and delivering on-point lectures in the field of economics and history.

Keith Claudius Mitchell -  Grenada’s  Seventh Prime Minister was born in Happy Hill in 1946. He received his early primary education at Happy Hill Roman Catholic School and the St. George’s Roman Catholic Primary School (now J.W. Fletcher Memorial School). His received his secondary education at the Presentation Brothers’ College.

Dr. Mitchell entered politics at the age of twenty six in 1972 running on a Grenada National Party (GNP) ticket and lost.

In the early 1970’s too, he worked at the Grenada Shipping Agents and found himself in contravention of the virtue of honesty. This created a problem for him so much so – Maurice Bishop – a lawyer by profession, Jacqueline Creft and Chester Humphrey – ranking members of the NJM) made representation to prominent members of the board on his behalf which ended in an agreement of restitution. 

Dr. Mitchell moved on to further his education abroad and returned to Grenada in 1984 whereupon he was successful in winning his seat becoming an elected Member of Parliament.

In 1989 he took over leadership of the New National party (NNP) from Herbert Blaize under controversial circumstances resulting in a strain in relations with the ailing Herbert Blaize who moved swiftly to disassociate himself from Dr. Mitchell and his leadership of the NNP through the formation of The National Party (TNP).

The NNP under Mitchell’s leadership was abysmally unsuccessful at the 1990 polls and he remained in opposition until in 1995 when he was successful at the general elections and became Prime Minister of a one seat majority government.

In 1999, one year ahead of the constitutional due general elections, the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister - Dr. Raphael Fletcher forced early elections.

Although Dr. Mitchell’s administration fell from office, his party hit the ground running and was able to capture all fifteen seats at the polls.

The introduction of the offshore financial services sector which was replete with crooks and conmen, and plagued by a general interest of the FBI to investigate, helped to bankroll his party’s campaign leading to such phenomenal success.

In November of 2003, Dr. Mitchell led his NNP to a questioned and questionable six-vote victory, commanding one Parliamentary seat more than the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He has embraced an autocratic somewhat dictatorial style leadership attacking just about every sector of the community who demand good governance.  

History is not likely to be kind to Dr. Mitchell since he has been plagued by too many allegations of corruption stigmatizing Grenada thus damaging its international and regional image.

He has become the first sitting Grenadian leader against whom allegations of bribery has been made to the point where such incident is alleged to have been video taped and turned over to US authorities as evidence in a case involving the alleged briber. He is also the first sitting leader of the English speaking Caribbean to seek and be granted immunity from prosecution in the US – joining the likes of Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and DuValier of Haiti.

Governors General

 Sir Leo Victor DeGale – Grenada’s First Governor General (1974 – 1978) – was born in St. Andrew in 1921. He attended the Grenada Boys Secondary School and Sir George Williams University in Canada.  He was a qualified Land Surveyor and Public Accountant – Sir Leo served in the Second World War with the first Canada Survey Regiment in Italy, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany and Canada before returning to Grenada in 1945.

Sir Leo gave service to his country in many areas, to include the Grenada Banana Cooperative Society, Government Loan Board, the Judicial & Legal Services Commission, The Red Cross, the Governing Body of the Grenada Boys Secondary School and Public Service Commission before rising to the position of Grenada’s First Governor General in 1974 on the attainment of national Independence. He died in 1986.

Sir Paul Scoon – Grenada’s Second Governor General (1978 – 1992) – was born in 1935 and received his early education in St. John’s Anglican Primary School and the Grenada Boys Secondary School. Upon leaving school Sir Paul taught at the Grenada Boys Secondary School and was Hostel Master. He moved on to serve as Chief Education Officer and later Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office before attaining the Civil Service’s top post of Cabinet Secretary.

Sir Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree having studied as an external student at London University.  He served in many organizations among which are: the Management Council of the Civil Service Association, the Grenada Library Committee, the GBSS Governing Body, and the Grenada Board of Education. Special notice must be taken of Sir Paul’s co-founder role and former President of the Grenada Secondary School Teachers’ Association.

Sir Reginald Palmer – Grenada’s Third Governor General (1992 – 1996) – was born in 1923  and attended the Beaulieu Roman Catholic Primary School before moving on to teach and later head the St. George’s Roman Catholic Boys’ Primary School and then to the Government Teachers Training College in Trinidad. He is a graduate of both the University of Birmingham, England and University of Calgary, Canada.

Sir Reginald had a passion for the education of others and so moved up the ranks from Pupil Teacher to Assistant Teacher to Head Teacher before graduating to Assistant Education Officer , Principal of the Grenada Teachers’ College and then onto Chief Education Officer before retiring in 1980.  He has been an active member of several organizations related to education and served a President of the Grenada Employers’ Federation.  In 1992 he was sworn in as Grenada’s third Governor General and demitted office in 1996.

Sir Daniel Williams – Grenada’s Fourth Governor General (1996 – present) – was born in St. David in 1935.  He taught for six years before migrating to the UK where he was employed by the British Civil Service before taking the decision to study Law.  He received his LL.B Degree from London University and one year later received his Barrister at Law Certificate – from the Council of Legal Education at Lincoln’s Inn, London.

Sir Daniel was admitted to the Bar in Grenada in 1969 and went into private practice. Between 1970 and 1974, though, he accepted an appointment as Magistrate in St. Lucia, and returned to Grenada to continue private practice.

Sir Daniel is the first and only Governor General who had an active political life before assuming the position. He was successful at the polls when Grenada returned to Constitutional rule in 1984 and became the Minister

of Health, Housing & the Environment before moving on to become Minister of Community Development & Women’s Affairs, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.  In 1990 he returned to private practice resorting to civil and corporate law.  In 1996 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel (QC) and was later given the position of Governor General of Grenada in August of that same year. His tenure in office is not without controversy as he is perceived to be facilitating and accommodating the sitting administration.