Alix Boyd Knights | |
---|---|
Speaker of the House of Assembly of Dominica | |
In office 17 April 2000 –10 February 2020 | |
Prime Minister | Rosie Douglas Pierre Charles Osborne Riviere Roosevelt Skerrit |
Preceded by | Osborne Symes |
Succeeded by | Joseph Isaac |
Personal details | |
Died | 29 August 2023 |
Alix Boyd Knights (died 29 August 2023) was a Dominican politician and attorney who was the Speaker of the House of Assembly from 2000 to 2020. [1] [2]
Boyd Knights was first elected Speaker on 17 April 2000 and was re-elected on 27 July 2005,4 February 2010 and 20 February 2015. [3] [4] Upon her election to a third term on 4 February 2010,she became the longest serving Speaker in Dominica's history. [5]
In 2010,she was initially nominated by the Dominica Labour Party led government to become the next President of Dominica. [1] She stepped down as the speaker in 2020,and was awarded title Speaker Emeritus. [1]
Boyd Knights had a Bachelor of Laws degree from University of the West Indies and a degree from Hugh Wooding Law School,Trinidad and Tobago. [1]
Alix Boyd Knights died on 29 August 2023. [1] She was given a state funeral. [6]
Betty Boothroyd,Baroness Boothroyd,was a British politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. A member of the Labour Party,she served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1992 to 2000. She was the first woman to serve as Speaker. Boothroyd later sat in the House of Lords as,in accordance with tradition,a crossbench peer.
Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst,Baron Haselhurst,,is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017,having previously represented Middleton and Prestwich from 1970 to 1974. Haselhurst was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010,and later Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2011 and 2014. The oldest Conservative MP to stand down at the 2017 general election,he was created a Life Peer in May 2018,sitting in the House of Lords as Baron Haselhurst.
Patricia Janet Scotland,Baroness Scotland of Asthal,,is a British diplomat,barrister and politician,serving as the sixth secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations. She was elected at the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and took office on 1 April 2016. She is the first woman to hold the post. She was elevated to the House of Lords in 1997 and,as a British Labour Party politician,served in ministerial positions within the UK Government,most notably as the Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland. She is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Dominica,where she was born.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA),previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association,is an organisation which works to support good governance,democracy and human rights.
The United Workers' Party is a centrist political party in Dominica. As of the 2022 general election,the party is not represented in the House of Assembly of Dominica,after boycotting the general election. The past Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly is Lennox Linton.
Balram Jakhar was an Indian politician,who served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He was also the longest serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Sheila Yvette Oliver was an American politician who served as the second lieutenant governor of New Jersey from 2018 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,Oliver was the first Black woman to serve as lieutenant governor of New Jersey and was the first woman of color elected to statewide office in New Jersey.
The House of Assembly is the legislature of Dominica. It is established by Chapter III of the Constitution of Dominica,and together with the President of Dominica constitutes Dominica's Parliament. The House is unicameral,and consists of twenty-one Representatives,nine senators,and the Attorney General as an ex officio member. The Speaker of the House becomes the thirty-second member if chosen from outside the membership of the House.
Dominica,officially the Commonwealth of Dominica,is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital,Roseau,is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically situated as part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. Dominica's closest neighbours are two constituent territories of the European Union,the overseas departments of France,Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Dominica comprises a land area of 750 km2 (290 sq mi),and the highest point is Morne Diablotins,at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. Its population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.
The Speaker of the House of Assembly of Dominica is responsible for the management and general administration of the House,ensuring that rules of procedure are followed. The Speaker is elected by the House of Assembly at its first sitting after a general election.
The representation of women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has been an issue in the politics of the United Kingdom at numerous points in the 20th and 21st centuries. Originally debate centred on whether women should be allowed to vote and stand for election as Members of Parliament. The Parliament Act 1918 gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. The United Kingdom has had three female Prime Ministers:Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990),Theresa May (2016–2019),and Liz Truss (2022). The publication of the book Women in the House by Elizabeth Vallance in 1979 highlighted the under-representation of women in Parliament. In more modern times concerns about the under-representation of women led the Labour Party to introduce and,decades later,abandon all-women short lists,something which was later held to breach discrimination laws.
Tun Mohamed Zahir bin Ismail was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat,the lower chamber of the Malaysian Parliament from June 1982 to his death in October 2004. He was the longest-serving officeholder by serving for 22 years,4 months. He was also the first Chancellor of the International Medical University from 1999 to 2004.
Hector John is a Dominican politician in the United Workers' Party (UWP). He was the Leader of the Opposition,from 2010 to 2014 and was the youngest ever to hold that position. He was first elected as a Representative to the House of Assembly in 2009.
A by-election was held on 9 July 2010 in Dominica,to fill two seats in the House of Assembly that were declared vacant. The contested seats were both won by significant margins by the incumbent candidates,who were members of the opposition United Workers' Party.
Joseph Isaac is a Dominican politician from Dominica Labour Party,serving as Speaker of the House of Assembly of Dominica since 2020.
Marie Davis Pierre was a Dominican public servant who served as Speaker of the House of Assembly from 1980 to 1988.
Kelleb John Laurent was a cricketer,schoolteacher and politician from Dominica.
Anette Thomas-Sanford is a Dominican nurse and politician. She served as a Senator in the House of Assembly from 10 February 2020 to 6 December 2022 for the opposition United Workers' Party.
Pershing Waldron was a Dominican politician who served as Speaker of the House of Assembly of Dominica during the turbulent times of June 1979.