 |
Orville Alton Thompson "Tommy" Turnquest, CBE (born 16 November 1959 [1] ) is a Bahamian politician.
|
Orville Alton Thompson "Tommy" Turnquest, CBE (born 16 November 1959 [1] ) is a Bahamian politician.
Turnquest was born in 1959 in Nassau. [2] He is the son of Sir Orville Turnquest, a former Governor-General, and Lady Edith Turnquest. [3] He attended St Anne's High School in Nassau and Malvern College in England. He was also attended ithe University of Western Ontario in Canada.
Before running for Parliament, Turnquest worked for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. He was the manager of the bank's East Bay Street Branch, Nassau, until the general election of August 1992.[ citation needed ]
Turnquest began his political career in 1981. He had been instrumental in the reactivation of the Torchbearers, the youth wing of the Free National Movement (FNM) where he served as president for four years.
On 19 August 1992, he was elected the MP for Mount Moriah and then re-elected in the 1997 general elections. He has held many positions in the FNM, including Parliamentary Secretary for the Prime Minister's Office, Minister of State for Public Service and Labor (1995–1996), Minister of State for Public Works (1996–2000), Minister of Public Service (2000–2001) and Minister for Tourism (2001–2002). [1] He was appointed Minister of Public Works on 20 March 1997.
After being voted leader-elect at a FNM party convention in August 2001, he looked likely to succeed Hubert Ingraham as the next prime minister of the Bahamas. [4] However, at the 2002 general election, Turnquest lost his constituency seat to Keod Smith, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) candidate.
Turnquest continued to serve as leader of the FNM until 10 November 2005 and as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate until the 2007 general election, when he won back the seat of Mount Moriah, serving under Prime Minister Ingraham. He served as Minister of National Security from 2007 to 2012 [1] in the cabinet of Hubert Ingraham.
Turnquest again lost his seat, this time to Arnold Forbes, the PLP candidate, in the 2012 general election held on 7 May 2012. [5]
The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy headed by King Charles III in his role as King of the Bahamas. The politics of the Bahamas takes place within a framework of parliamentary democracy, with a Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The Bahamas is an Independent Country and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. As a former British colony, its political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. King Charles III is the head of state, but executive power is exercised by the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and jurisprudence is based on English common law. The multi-party system is dominated by the Progressive Liberal Party and the Free National Movement. The constitution protects freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.
Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, KCMG, PC, NH, JP was a Bahamian politician who is regarded by some as the "Father of the Nation", having led the Bahamas to majority rule and independence.
Perry Gladstone Christie PC, MP is a Bahamian former politician who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from 2002 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2017. He is the second longest-serving Bahamian elected parliamentarian, representing the Centreville constituency from 1977 to 2017. He is also a former athlete. His Progressive Liberal Party is the oldest Bahamian political party, holding solid majorities in the Bahamian Parliament several times in its long history.
Dame Ivy Leona Dumont, is a Bahamian politician who served as the seventh governor-general of the Bahamas. She was the first woman in the Bahamas to hold this office, from 1 January 2002 until 30 November 2005. She previously served as Minister of Education from 1995 to 2001.
The Free National Movement is a political party in the Bahamas formed in the early 1970s and led by Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Michael Pintard and the current deputy leader is Shanendon Cartwright.
The Progressive Liberal Party is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party.
Hubert Alexander Ingraham, PC is a Bahamian politician who was Prime Minister of the Bahamas from August 1992 to May 2002, and again from May 2007 to May 2012. He is a member of the Free National Movement Party (FNM). Prior to the 2012 election, he was the FNM's Party Leader and member of Parliament for the North Abaco constituency. He served as leader of the opposition in the House of Assembly of the Bahamas from 2005 to 2007.
Theodore Brent Symonette is a Bahamian businessman and Free National Movement politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for St. Anne's constituency from 2007 to 2012 and 2017 to 2021. In his first term, he served as Deputy Prime Minister to Hubert Ingraham and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In his second, he was the Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration from 2017 to 2019.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 2007. The result was an opposition victory, with the Free National Movement, led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, claiming 23 of the 41 seats. Incumbent Prime Minister Perry Christie conceded defeat in a phone call to his rival. Ingraham was sworn into the office of Prime Minister on 4 May.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 2 May 2002. The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won 29 of the 40 seats in the House of Assembly to defeat the governing Free National Movement (FNM). Voter turnout was 90%.
Philip Edward "Brave" Davis is a Bahamian politician serving as the prime minister of the Bahamas since 2021. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador from 1992 to 1997 and returned to the seat in May 2002, which he still represents.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 19 August 1992. The result was a victory for the opposition Free National Movement (FNM), which received 55% of the vote and won 33 of the 49 seats in the House of Assembly, while the ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) lost nearly half their seats, winning only 16.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 7 May 2012. They were the first general election in which a third party offered a full slate of candidates alongside the two major parties, the Free National Movement and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). The result was a victory for the opposition PLP, whose leader Perry Christie became prime minister.
Hubert Alexander Minnis, ON is a Bahamian politician and doctor who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from May 2017 to 16 September 2021. Minnis is the former leader of the Free National Movement, the former governing party, and the Member of Parliament for the New Providence constituency of Killarney. First elected to the legislature in the 2007 election, he succeeded Hubert Ingraham as party leader following the party's defeat in the 2012 election.
The prime minister of the Bahamas is the head of government of the Bahamas. The prime minister is formally appointed into office by the Governor-General of the Bahamas, who represents Charles III, the King of the Bahamas.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 10 May 2017. The elected members of the House of Assembly then elected the Prime Minister.
General elections were held in the Bahamas on 16 September 2021 to elect all 38 members of the House of Assembly.
Michael Clifton Pintard is a Bahamian politician serving as Leader of the Free National Movement and leader of the opposition since 27 November 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marco City, Grand Bahama since 2017. First appointed in 2010, he served two terms in the Senate. He was the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources from 2018 to 2021.
Sir Cecil Vincent Wallace Whitfield was a Bahamian politician who was a founding member and the first leader of the Free National Movement political party. He also served as a Minister in the cabinet of Lynden Pindling from 1967 to 1970 and as a longtime member of the Bahamian Parliament.
Edison McGinnis Key is a Bahamian politician and former Member of Parliament. He is best known for representing Central and South Abaco as a Member of Parliament. He served in various capacities during his 40-year political career, including two terms as a Senator and as chairman of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BaTelCo) and chair of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC).