Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, a singular nation state. Nevis is located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago about 350 kilometres (220 mi) east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Antigua. Its area is 93 square kilometres (36 sq mi) and the capital is Charlestown.
The politics of Saint Kitts and Nevis takes place in the framework of a federal parliamentary democracy. Saint Kitts and Nevis is an independent Commonwealth realm with Charles III as its head of state, viceregally represented by a Governor-General. He acts on the advice of the prime minister, who is the majority party leader in the National Assembly, and who, with a cabinet, conducts affairs of state.
Denzil Llewellyn Douglas is a Saint Kittitian and Nevisian politician and the longest-serving prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, in office from 1995 to 2015. He was the leader of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) from 1989 to 2021. He was the leader of the parliamentary opposition from 1989 to 1995 and from 2015 to 2022.
The Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) is a Nevis-based political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Led by Mark Brantley, it is currently the largest party in Nevis, holding all three Nevisian seats in the National Assembly and three out of five seats in the Nevis Island Assembly. The CCM operates only in Nevis and for the 2022 general election is in a One Movement alliance with the People's Action Movement (PAM) operating in Saint Kitts, following the breakdown of the governing Team Unity alliance.
The Nevis Reformation Party is a Nevis-based political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The party currently holds none of the eleven seats in the National Assembly. It is the official opposition party on Nevis, holding two of five seats in the Nevis Island Assembly after losing to the CCM in the 2022 election. Since 2020, the NRP has been led by businesswoman and environmental consultant Janice Daniel-Hodge, the first woman to lead a political party in the country and daughter of former Premier of Nevis Simeon Daniel.
Vance Winkworth Amory was a Saint Kitts and Nevis politician and cricketer, banker, and educator. He served two stints as Premier of Nevis, from 1992 to 2006 and from 2013 to 2017, and served as the Minister of Sports in the Nevis Island Administration. He founded and led the Concerned Citizens' Movement. The airport in Nevis, Vance W. Amory International Airport, bears his name.
Simeon Daniel was the first Premier of Nevis.
The Nevis Island Assembly is the devolved local legislative body for the island of Nevis within the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis.
The monarchy of Saint Kitts and Nevis is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The current monarch of Saint Kitts and Nevis, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Crown of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Saint Christopher and Nevis and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Saint Kitts and Nevis. However, the King is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.
General elections were held in Saint Kitts and Nevis on 25 January 2010 for eleven of the fourteen or fifteen seats in the National Assembly. The other three or four members of the National Assembly will be appointed by the Governor-General after the elections.
Alexis Zook Jeffers is a Saint Kitts and Nevis politician with the Concerned Citizens' Movement. He represents the Saint James constituency in the Nevis Island Assembly, and has also stood as a candidate for election to the National Assembly.
Shawn Kenneth Richards is a Saint Kitts and Nevis politician from People's Action Movement (PAM).
Dame Marcella Althea Liburd is a Kittitian politician who is the fifth governor-general of Saint Kitts and Nevis, serving since 2023. Trained as a teacher and then as a barrister and solicitor, Liburd was the first woman to serve as both the Speaker of the National Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis and the Governor-General, as well as the first Governor-General appointed by Charles III. She has served in various Ministerial positions including Acting Prime Minister and Chair of the Opposition for the Labour Party. She was the first woman to serve as Chair in the 81-year-old organization’s history.
Robelto Hector is a Nevisian politician and former leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and minister in Nevis cabinet.
Dia C. Forrester is a Grenadian lawyer who served as Grenada's first woman to be appointed attorney general. Her tenure was from 1 January 2021 until 1 July 2022, following the 2022 general election. She is now the head of Forrester Legal Chambers a full service commercial and civil law firm - https://forresterlc.com/about-us/.
Snap general elections were held in Saint Kitts and Nevis on 5 August 2022, following the decision of incumbent prime minister Timothy Harris to dissolve the parliament on 11 May. Snap elections are constitutionally required within ninety days following the dissolution of parliament.
Anthony Michael Perkins is a politician from Concerned Citizens' Movement in Saint Kitts and Nevis. He was elected on 30 June 2016 as Speaker of the National Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Events from the year 2022 in Saint Kitts and Nevis
Island Assembly elections were held in Nevis on 12 December 2022 to elect five members of the Nevis Island Assembly.
Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition is a constitutionally sanctioned office in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Constitution requires that there shall be a Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis who shall be appointed by the Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Usually the person comes from the largest group in the National Assembly that is not in government.
