Prime Ministers of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, 1979 – present

Milton Cato: 27 October 1979 - 30 July 1984

Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell: 30 July 1984 - 27 October 2000

Arnhim Eustace: 27 October 2000 - 29 March 2001

Ralph Gonsalves: 29 March 2001 –

Robert Milton Cato (June 3, 1915- February 10, 1997) was a socialist political leader in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Cato was born on Saint Vincent island. He joined the Canadian army and was involved in battles during World War II. After returning to Saint Vincent, he became involved in local politics. In 1955 he co-founded the Saint Vincent Labour Party, also known as the Unity Labour Party. In 1967, when Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became an associated state, he became chief minister. He became Prime Minister in 1969.

Cato lost elections in April 1972 and the opposition leader, James Fitz-Allen Mitchell became Prime Minister. Cato's party and its coalition partners won elections in 1974. He served as Prime Minister again from 1974 until 1984, even though his coalition collapsed during the mid 1970s. Cato led his country to complete independence from Britain in 1979. Cato's government did not support other nearby socialist governments such as those in Cuba, Grenada and Guyana as he opposed Marxism. Instead, he allied with like-minded pro-Western governments such as those in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, cooperating with them on economic and defense matters.

The Labour Party lost elections in 1984. It is still one of the two main political parties in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It returned to power in 2001 under Ralph Gonsalves. Cato died in Kingstown, Saint Vincent.

Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell (born 1931) was the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from April 1972 to December 8, 1974 and from July 30, 1984 until October 27, 2000. He was a member and a founder of the New Democratic Party. His main political rival was Milton Cato, whom he defeated as leader of the NDP in the 1972 and 1984 elections, but lost the 1974 elections.

One of the longest serving prime ministers in Caribbean history, Mitchell was also foreign minister from 1984 until 1992. He retired voluntarily as Prime Minister in 2000, ahead of the March 2001 parliamentary elections in which his party was defeated.

He wrote an autobiography called Beyond The Islands.

Arnhim Ulric Eustace (born 1944) is a development economist and politician from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He served in the New Democratic Party government of James Fitz-Allen Mitchell and became prime minister on October 27, 2000, when Mitchell retired. The newcomer to politics only served as prime minister for five months, as in the next parliamentary elections, on March 28, 2001 the New Democratic Party suffered a landslide defeat, retaining only three of the 15 parliamentary seats. Eustace retained his seat and is now the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

With a Master's Degree in Economics, Eustace also has a lengthy record of international service. His directorship of the Caribbean Development Bank, chairmanship of the Windward Islands Banana Development and Exporting Company and SVG National Insurance Scheme, and directorship of Planning and Finance for the SVG Ministry of Finance, among other posts, attracted the attention of the Commonwealth Secretariat which offered him the job of Deputy Secretary General in 1998, a post he declined.

Ralph Everard Gonsalves (born August 8, 1946), also known as "Comrade Ralph", is the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines. He has held that position since March 29, 2001. He is leader of the Unity Labour Party, and won the 2001 general elections by a landslide of 12 seats to 3, after a close run in the 1998 elections. He was re-elected in the December 2005 elections with the same parliamentary ratio.

He first entered political life as a student at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica; in 1968, as president of the Guild of Undergraduates, Gonsalves led the student protest at the banning of popular historian and intellectual Walter Rodney.

Gonsalves received his Ph.D. in political science from UWI, Mona, and went on to receive a law degree from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados before returning to practice law and become an active politician in his homeland.

Gonsalves, however, has faced criticisms on several fronts:

1.     The introduction of the Value Added Tax

2.     Some critics have faced court cases leading outside observers to question the validity of freedom of speech in St.Vincent

3.     The relocation/dislocation of nationals from some areas in the name of development

4.     Closer ties with Venezuela and Cuba^[1]

5.     Dr Gonsalves' son was appointed ambassador to the united nations, leading to allegations of nepotism.^[2]

6.     An increasing national debt.^[3]

To his credit, however, Dr Gonsalves is responsible for the "Revolution in Education," which has substantially increased the number of persons of all classes obtaining an education. He has executed the majority of the plans set forth in the manifesto of the Unity Labour Party, and has represented St.Vincent and The Grenadines well at both the regional and international level.