The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Trinidad was visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498,,and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad was administered by Spanish hands until 1797,but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British,French,Dutch,and Courlanders,but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris (1814). In 1889,the two islands were incorporated into a single political entity. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
The politics of Trinidad and Tobago function within the framework of a unitary state regulated by a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,from which the country gained its independence in 1962. Under the 1976 republican Constitution,the monarch was replaced as head of state by a President chosen by an electoral college composed of the members of the bicameral Parliament,consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidad and Tobago 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 the 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,but with the seat in 2020 being won by his son Brian Manning. Patrick Manning 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 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.
The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history,contesting all elections since 1956 serving as the nation's governing party or on four occasions,the main opposition. It is one out of the country's two main political parties. There have been four PNM Prime Ministers and multiple ministries. The party espouses the principles of liberalism and generally sits at the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum.
Eric A. Williams was a Trinidad and Tobago politician until November 2007 and was Member of Parliament for Port of Spain South. Until his resignation from the Cabinet in January 2006,he served as the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries in the then People's National Movement government,a post he had held since December 2001.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar;born Kamla Susheila Persad,22 April 1952),often referred to by her initials KPB,is a Trinidadian 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.
The People's Partnership (PP) was a political coalition in Trinidad and Tobago among five political parties:the United National Congress (UNC),the Congress of the People (COP),the Tobago Organization of the People (TOP),Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) and National Joint Action Committee (NJAC). The political leader was Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The coalition was formed in advance of the 2010 general election attempting to form a multi-ethnic opposition bloc against the People's National Movement (PNM) government led by Patrick Manning. The coalition won the 2010 General Elections defeating the People's National Movement on May 24,2010. On September 7,2015,the coalition was defeated in the 2015 General Elections to the People's National Movement led by Keith Rowley. The coalition saw the departure of the Movement for Social Justice in 2012 and eventually disbanded on December 8, 2015.
The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government.
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.
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.
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday,10 August 2020,to elect 41 members to the 12th Trinidad and Tobago Republican Parliament. It was the 14th election since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1962 and the 22nd national election in Trinidad and Tobago ever. Tracy Davidson-Celestine,political leader of the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement (PNM) became the first woman to lead a Tobagonian political party with representation in the House of Representatives. Additionally,two of the three largest parties elected in 2015,the United National Congress (UNC) and the Congress of the People (COP),were led by women.
House of Assembly elections were held in Tobago on 25 January 2021 where 12 members were elected in the eleventh election since the Assembly was established in 1980. This election marked the first time in history that both parties elected,the People's National Movement (PNM) and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) won an equal number seats of 6-6,despite the PNM winning the popular vote,resulting in a deadlock and a constitutional crisis with both political parties and Prime Minister Keith Rowley seeking senior counsel advice on the way forward. This election was the first time after 20 years in power that the PNM lost its absolute majority. This election also marked the first time a female political leader was elected to the Assembly and the first time a woman led a major political party or a political party with representation in the Assembly,following the 2020 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election where Health Secretary,councillor and former Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to Costa Rica and former Deputy Chief Secretary of Tobago Tracy Davidson-Celestine made history by being elected as the PNM's first female political leader at the regional or national level and one of the first bilingual political leaders in the country's history. If Davidson-Celestine and the PNM were to be elected with a majority to their sixth consecutive term in office,she would have made history,becoming the first female Chief Secretary of Tobago. The election was held alongside local by-elections in Trinidad in which the PNM and UNC retained two districts and the PNM losing one to the UNC.
Joan L. Latchman is a seismologist from Trinidad and Tobago who was the first woman to lead the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre. She was awarded the 2019 Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency Council Award.
The Tobago Council of the People's National Movement,also known as the Tobago Council of the PNM,PNM Tobago or PNM Tobago Council,is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Tobago. The party is the autonomous branch of the Trinidad and Tobago People's National Movement operating in Tobago. While its political leader acts in the local capacity,they also serve as a deputy leader on a national level. The party's executives organize for both local and national election campaigns. There have been three PNM Chief Secretaries and administrations.
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 an attorney at law,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. Young was awarded Silk and elevated to Senior Counsel on June 20,2024.
The 2022 People's National Movement leadership election, the last one for the PNM before the subsequent general election,took place over three days:November 26 and 27 and December 4,2022. The current party leader and Prime Minister Keith Rowley had indicated he would most likely not seek to lead the party into the next general election. Rowley made these comments in his victory speech on the night of the 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election,where the PNM secured a second mandate under his leadership but with the slimmest majority for a government in two decades. However,he announced that he would seek another term as the party's leader in October 2022. In the 2020 general election campaign,he indicated that he would have stood down had the PNM lost. The election followed the 2022 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election. Keith Rowley won re-election by an overwhelming majority with a low voter turnout with 9,111 out of 105,894 eligible party members voting.
Snap House of Assembly elections were held in Tobago on 6 December 2021 to elect all 15 members of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA). The election was called following a deadlock created by the January 2021 elections which resulted in a tie between the People's National Movement (PNM) and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP),with both parties winning six seats. As a result,the number of seats in the legislature was increased from 12 to 15 to avoid ties.
Richie G. Sookhai is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian senator,Minister in the Ministry of Works and Transport,engineer and businessman.
