Prime Ministers of The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago

This page lists prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago. See also lists of incumbents, list of Governors of Trinidad and Tobago, list of Governors-General of Trinidad and Tobago, list of Presidents of Trinidad and Tobago. [edit]

Prime Ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, 1961-present 

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                   Eric Williams: 1961 - 29 March 1981^[1]

                   George Chambers: 30 March 1981 - 18 December 1986

                   A.N.R. Robinson: 19 December 1986 - 17 December 1991

                   Patrick Manning: 17 December 1991 - 9 November 1995

                   Basdeo Panday: 9 November 1995 - 24 December 2001

                   Patrick Manning: 24 December 2001 - present

Dr. Eric Eustace Williams (September 25, 1911 – March 29, 1981) was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He served from 1956 until his death in 1981. He was also a noted Caribbean historian.

Williams was born the son of minor civil servant, but his mother was a descendant of the French Creole elite. He was educated at Queen's Royal College in Port of Spain, where he excelled at academics and football. He won an island scholarship in 1932 which allowed him to attend Oxford University where he received his doctorate in 1938. Williams was in part inspired by C.L.R. James and his doctoral thesis, titled The Economic Aspect of the West Indian Slave Trade and Slavery, owed much to the influence of James's The Black Jacobins (1938)

For other persons named George Chambers, see George Chambers (disambiguation).

George Michael Chambers (1928-1997) was the second Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Born in Port of Spain, Chambers joined the People's National Movement (PNM) in 1956, and was elected to Parliament representing the St. Anns East seat. He served as Assistant General Secretary of the PNM before becoming Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance in 1966. From there he went on to serve as Minister of Finance, Public Utilities, Housing, National Security, Education, Panning, Industry/Commerce and Agriculture.

Chambers was one of three Deputy Leaders of the PNM when then-Prime Minister Eric Williams died suddenly in 1981. He was appointed Prime Minister by then-President Ellis Clarke and led the PNM to victory in the 1981 General Elections. In 1986 he led the PNM to its worst ever electoral defeat (winning only 3 of the 36 seats in Parliament). Following the defeat Chambers resigned and was succeeded as PNM leader by Patrick Manning.

Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson (born 16 December 1926 in Calder Hall, Tobago) was President of Trinidad and Tobago from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was previously Prime Minister from 18 December 1986 to 17 December 1991. He is internationally recognized for his proposal that eventually led to the founding of the International Criminal Court.

President Robinson was the first active politician to be elected to the Presidency, and was the first presidential candidate who was not elected unopposed (the Opposition People's National Movement (PNM) nominated Justice Anthony Lucky as its candidate for President). President Robinson sparked controversy in his term in office when he refused to appoint certain Senators recommended by the Prime Minister Basdeo Panday following the elections in 2000 and in 2001 when he appointed the Leader of the Opposition Patrick Manning to the position of Prime Minister after a tied election.

Originally a member of the PNM, he left the party following the Black Power disturbances in 1970 and founded the Action Committee of Democratic Citizens (ACDC). In conjunction with the Democratic Labour Party, Robinson lead the ill-fated "No-vote" campaign of 1971. This campaign protested the use of voting machines which the Opposition DLP considered to be used for election fraud in the 1961 and 1966 elections. Following the election, Robinson founded the Democratic Action Congress (DAC) which won the two Tobago seats in the 1976 and 1981 elections, but which failed to make credible headway in any constituencies in Trinidad.

In 1981 Robinson joined forces with the United Labour Front (ULF) under the leadership of Basdeo Panday and the Tapia House Movement under the leadership of Lloyd Best to form the National Alliance. This group entered an Accommodation with the Organisation for National Reconstruction under the leadership of Karl Hudson-Phillips to fight (and win) the Local Government elections of 1983. Building on this victory the four parties combined to form the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) which won the 1986 elections by a margin of 33-3 and Robinson was appointed the first non-PNM Prime Minister.

Prior to the 1986 elections Robinson was instrumental in setting up the Tobago House of Assembly (THA). This local government entity was established in 1980 to strengthen the position of Tobago within the unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago. His party, the DAC (and later the NAR) controlled the THA from 1980 until 2001 when the PNM gained control of the body.

During the 1990 coup d'état attempt by the Jamaat al Muslimeen the Prime Minister Robinson and much of his Cabinet were held hostage for six days by gunmen under the leadership of Bilaall Abdullah. When instructed to order the army to stop firing on the Red House (the seat of Parliament where they were held hostage) Robinson instead instructed them to 'Attack with full force', an action which earned him a severe beating from his captors. He was also shot in his leg.

In 1989, during the 44th Session of the UN General Assembly, he proposed the creation of a permanent international court to deal with the transnational drug trade. This eventually led to the inauguration of the International Criminal Court in 2002, commissioned to hear cases of crimes against humanity. He has received many honors for this achievement.

Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (born August 17, 1946) is the current Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Trinidad and Tobago and Political Leader of the People's National Movement (PNM). He served as Prime Minister between 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and since 24 December 2001, as Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and from 1995 to 2001. He has been the Political Leader of the PNM since 1987. A geologist by training, Manning has served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency since 1971 and is currently the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives.^[1]

Manning received his secondary education at Presentation College, San Fernando Bachelor's Degree from the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica in 1969. After graduation he returned to Trinidad where he worked as a geologist for Texaco. He entered Parliament in 1971 representing the San Fernando East constituency.^[1]

Basdeo Panday- (born May 25, 1933) was Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001 and has served as Leader of the Opposition from 1976–1977, 1978–1986, 1989–1995 and 2001–2006. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North. He is the Chairman and interim party leader of the Opposition United National Congress. In 2006, Panday was convicted of failing to declare a bank account in London and imprisoned but as of March 20, 2007, that conviction has been quashed by the Court of Appeal. He was granted bail on April 28 pending the outcome of his appeal due to his health condition and the poor state of health facilities at the Arouca prison. On May 1 he decided to resign as Chairman of the United National Congress, but the party's executive refuse to accept his resignation.