Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 May 2010. He was also political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) from 1987 to 2010. A geologist by training, Manning served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency from 1971 until 2015 when he was replaced by Randall Mitchell and was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2001.
The president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of state of Trinidad and Tobago and the commander-in-chief of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1976, before which the head of state was the Queen of Trinidad and Tobago, Elizabeth II. The last governor-general, Sir Ellis Clarke, was sworn in as the first president on 1 August 1976 under a transitional arrangement. He was formally chosen as president by an electoral college consisting of members of both houses of Parliament on 24 September 1976, which is now celebrated as Republic Day.
The United National Congress is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unionist, and actor after a split in the ruling National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). After spending six years in opposition, the UNC won control of the government in 1995, initially in coalition with the NAR and later on its own. In the 2000 general election, the UNC won an absolute majority in the Parliament. In 2001, a split in the party caused the UNC to lose its parliamentary majority and control of the government. From 2001 to 2010, the UNC was once again Parliamentary Opposition party. In May 2010, the UNC returned to government as the majority party in the People's Partnership. The UNC's Political Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Kamla Persad-Bissessar was Prime Minister from 2010 until 2015.
Sir Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke was the first President of Trinidad and Tobago and the second and last Governor-General. He was one of the main architects of Trinidad and Tobago's 1962 Independence constitution.
The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. Besides the President of Trinidad and Tobago, it is composed of the House of Representatives, which is composed of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in addition to 41 directly elected members serving a five-year term in single-seat constituencies, and the Senate which has 31 members appointed by the President: 16 Government Senators appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, 6 Opposition Senators appointed on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition and 9 Independent Senators appointed by the President to represent other sectors of civil society. It is at present the only parliament in the world with an incumbent female President, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Leader of the Opposition and made history by appointing the Caribbean's first and only transgender parliamentarian on 15 February 2022. As of 20 April 2021, there are only 24 female members, or 32.9% and eight members born in Tobago or 11.0%.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar ; born Kamla Susheila Persad, 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, political leader of the United National Congress (UNC) political party, and was the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 26 May 2010 until 9 September 2015. She was the country's first female prime minister, attorney general, and Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to chair the Commonwealth of Nations and the first woman of Indian origin to be a prime minister of a country outside of India and the wider subcontinent.
Gillian Lucky is a Justice of Appeal at the Supreme Court of Judicature for Trinidad and Tobago. She was previously a High Court Judge, Director of the Police Complaints Authority, and a Member of Parliament for Pointe-à-Pierre.
Basdeo Panday was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian statesman, lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, and actor who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North, Panday served as Leader of the Opposition four times between 1976 and 2010 and was a founding member of the United Labour Front (ULF), the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), and the United National Congress (UNC). He served as leader of the ULF and UNC, and was President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union from 1973 to 1995.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Trinidad and Tobago face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same rights and benefits as that of opposite-sex couples.
Dana Saroop Seetahal SC was an Independent Senator in the Trinidad and Tobago Senate. She was an attorney at law in private practice and was formerly a lecturer at the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago, where she held the position of Course Director in Criminal Practice and Procedure. She was assassinated in Port of Spain on May 4, 2014.
Elizabeth II was Queen of Trinidad and Tobago from the independence of Trinidad and Tobago on 31 August 1962 until the country became a republic on 1 August 1976. Her constitutional role as head of state was delegated to a governor-general, who acted on the advice of government ministers.
According to the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, the supreme law of the nation, the attorney general and minister of legal affairs of Trinidad and Tobago is the primary legal advisor to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.
Anthony Isidore Smart is a Trinidadian politician and lawyer. He served as a Member of Parliament from December 1986 to November 1991 and Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago from March 1989 to November 1991. He was also Political Leader of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) from April 2000 to November 2001. He currently serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the First Citizens Bank since June 17, 2014.
Faris Al-Rawi is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician. He was the former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 to 2022. He is also a Member of the House of Representatives for the constituency of San Fernando West.
Olive Walke, MBE was a Trinidadian musician and ethnomusicologist who was one of the first to collect regional Caribbean folk songs. She founded the well-known choir, La Petite Musicale and directed it for many years. Between 1961 and 1966, she served as a Senator in the first Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago established after its independence.
Pennelope Althea Beckles-Robinson is a Trinidad and Tobago attorney and politician. She has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Arima since the 2020 general election. She is the current Minister of Planning and Development. Previously she was the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Christine Carla Kangaloo is a Trinidadian politician, who is the president of Trinidad and Tobago since 2023. She was president of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 until her resignation to run for president in 2023. She is the only person to serve as both President and Vice President of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago, the first woman to serve as Senate Vice President and third woman to serve as acting President of Trinidad and Tobago and Senate President. She became the second woman to serve as President of Trinidad and Tobago upon her assumption of office on 20 March 2023. Kangaloo has served as an Opposition Senator, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Minister of Legal Affairs and Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education in previous People's National Movement governments.
Stuart Richard Young is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and attorney, representing the People's National Movement (PNM). He has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Port-of-Spain North/St. Ann's West since the 2015 general election. He is the current Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. Young has previously held the posts of Minister of National Security, Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and Minister of Communications.
Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and former leader of the Congress of the People. She was a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for San Fernando West from 2010 until 2015.
