Stanley Redwood | |
---|---|
President of the Senate of Jamaica | |
In office 2012–2013 | |
Preceded by | Oswald Harding |
Succeeded by | Floyd Morris |
Personal details | |
Born | Joint Wood,Saint Elizabeth Parish,Jamaica | 19 June 1964
Political party | People's National Party |
Alma mater | United Theological College of the West Indies University of the West Indies |
Reverend Stanley St John Redwood (born 3 March 1965) is a Jamaican minister and former politician from the People's National Party. He was the 10th President of the Senate of Jamaica,serving from 18 January 2012 to 10 May 2013.
A former Moravian minister and the founder of the New Holland Church,Redwood served in leadership positions within several universities before entering politics. After unsuccessful bids for a seat in the Jamaican House of Representatives in 2002 and 2007,he was appointed to the Senate after the 2011 general election. Redwood's decision to resign from the Senate and emigrate to Canada with his family in May 2013 was controversial,although Redwood promised to return to Jamaica after settling his family abroad.
Stanley Redwood was born on 3 March 1965 in Joint Wood,Saint Elizabeth Parish,Jamaica. In 1989 Redwood received a Diploma in Ministerial Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in theology from the United Theological College of the West Indies,and became a Moravian minister. He was appointed to a leadership position over several Moravian Churches in Manchester Parish,to the east of Saint Elizabeth Parish. [1]
Redwood would go on to serve in a number of administrative roles in academia. In 1995 he became the dean of studies at the Jamaica Bible College. [1] In 1996 he began tutoring and supervising the studies of theological students at the International University of the Caribbean (IUC). He became a full-time employee of the IUC in 2005,and served at different times as a lecturer,regional dean,and assistant vice-president at the IUC. [2] In the late 1990s Redwood also held positions with the Social Development Commission and the National Youth Service. [1]
By the time Redwood began his political career,he had been unaffiliated with the Moravian Church,which has a strict prohibition against pastors entering politics,for several years. Subsequent to his break from the Moravian Church,Redwood founded the New Holland Church in Saint Elizabeth Parish. [3]
In 2002 Redwood ran for the Saint Elizabeth North Western seat in the Jamaican House of Representatives,one of four seats belonging to Saint Elizabeth Parish,as a member of the People's National Party. Redwood claimed that his social work led him into politics,and he campaigned on a platform of bringing infrastructure and a university to the district. His opponent was incumbent representative William J.C. Hutchinson of the Jamaica Labour Party,a first term representative that won the position by 504 votes in a four-way contest during the 1997 general election. A second opponent,Harold Smith of the National Democratic Movement/New Jamaica Alliance,dropped out of the race,citing a medical condition. Although the People's National Party won the 2002 general election overall,Hutchinson retained his seat,defeating Redwood by 247 votes out of 10,903 cast. [1] [4] [5] [6] [7]
In 2003 Redwood was a candidate for one of fifteen seats in the Saint Elizabeth North West local government. The seat,representing Ipswich,had been declared vacant after its previous holder failed to appear for several meetings. After the local election was delayed several times,Redwood withdrew for consideration,citing financial strain caused by the ongoing campaign. [8]
In the 2007 general election,Redwood ran for the Saint Elizabeth South Western seat. The position was held by Donald Buchanan of the People's National Party,who was not seeking re-election. Redwood openly praised Buchanan,and campaigned on continuing his legacy. Redwood's opponent was the Christopher Tufton of the Jamaica Labour Party. In a March 2007 poll,62% of respondents held favorable views of Tufton,while only 21% held favorable views of Redwood. More respondents (29%) held unfavorable views of Redwood than held favorable views. Garwin Davis of the Jamaica Gleaner posited that Redwood's support of Buchanan may be detrimental to Redwood's campaign,as 59% of respondents held an unfavorable view of the outgoing representative. Additionally,over twice as many respondents had met Tufton than had met Redwood. The Jamaica Labour Party won the general election,and Tufton defeated Redwood by a margin of 1,825 votes out of 17,973 cast. [9] [10]
Following the 2011 general election,which saw the People's National Party regain the majority,Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller named Redwood to the Senate of Jamaica,where he was immediately named President of the Senate. He was one of six new senators,and one of five new senators from the ruling People's National Party. Redwood and 62 other new members to the Parliament were sworn in on 17 January 2012. [11] [12]
In April 2013,news broke that Redwood would be resigning from the Senate and emigrating to Canada with his family. Redwood formally resigned on 10 May 2013,ending a sixteen-month term in the Jamaican Parliament. Redwood claimed that he filed the application to emigrate to Canada five years before,following his loss in the 2007 general election,and that he did not know if or when his application would be accepted. He expressed a desire to return to Jamaica after settling his family,and to continue to serve Jamaica from abroad,saying "I am cognisant of the fact that this decision will inevitably disrupt my service as president of the Senate. I harbour a great deal of ambivalence and reticence in this regard. I am certain,however,that this move will open new doors and create more opportunities for me to continue to serve my beloved country among the growing Jamaican Diaspora in Canada." [13] [14] His decision to move was criticized,however,from both the opposition Jamaica Labour Party and by members of the media. Alando Terrelonge,the legal adviser for Jamaica Labour Party's youth wing,Generation 2000,called his decision "cowardice",and continued that "It is a cause for great concern that Redwood would run faster than the many university graduates and civil servants,who have similar options,but who instead make the sacrifice to fight for the Jamaica we all believe in". [15] The Jamaica Gleaner's column "The Gavel" criticized Redwood for campaigning for a "Jamaica-first doctrine" which would exclude dual-citizens from Parliament,despite having already filed papers to emigrate from Jamaica. [16]
In his farewell address to the Senate,Redwood implored the body to move towards full political independence from Great Britain,hold a discussion on adopting nuclear energy,form a powerful anti-corruption agency,and improve Jamaican productivity. [17]
The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica,founded in 1938 by Norman Washington Manley who served as party president until his death in 1969. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives,as 96 of the 227 local government divisions. The party is democratic socialist by constitution.
Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante was a Jamaican politician and labour leader,who,in 1962,became the first prime minister of Jamaica.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica,the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party,the JLP is actually a conservative party.
Sir Donald Burns Sangster ON GCVO was a Jamaican solicitor and politician,and the second Prime Minister of Jamaica.
Orette Bruce Golding is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP),which he led from 2005 to his resignation in 2011.
The Unity Labour Party (ULP) is a democratic socialist political party in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Currently the governing party,it is led by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.
Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller is a former Jamaican politician. She served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from 5 January 2012 to 3 March 2016. She was the leader of the People's National Party from 2005 to 2017 and the Leader of the Opposition twice,from 2007 to 2012 and from 2016 to 2017.
General elections were held in Saint Lucia on 11 December 2006. The elections were fought between the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) and the United Workers Party (UWP),which between them dominated politics in Saint Lucia. The results saw the governing Saint Lucia Labour Party lose the election to the United Workers Party led by John Compton,which gained eight seats to hold an eleven to six majority.
Oswald Gaskell Harding is a Jamaican former Labour Party politician,and the longest-serving senator in the nation's history. He was born in Kingston. Harding was the first person to serve as President of the Senate of Jamaica for two non-consecutive tenures,serving from 1980 to 1984 and from 2007 to 2011. First appointed to the Senate in 1977,he served in the body continuously until 2002,and rejoined the Senate from 2007 until his retirement from politics in 2011. His first period as a senator was the longest continuous tenure in the body's history.
Christopher Tufton is a Jamaican politician. A member of the governing Jamaica Labour Party,and Jamaica's Minister of Health and Wellness. He previously served as the Minister of Industry,Investment and Commerce from July 2011 to December 2011,having previously served as the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries since 2007. Tufton served as the Member of Parliament for parliamentary constituency St. Elizabeth South Western from 2007 up until his defeat in 2011. In 2016 Tufton won the St. Catherine West Central seat against the PNP's Clinton Clarke and thus being returned to the Lower House.
Kenneth Wykeham McNeill,MD,MP,CD is a Jamaican politician,former Member of Parliament for Westmoreland West,Jamaica. He is a former government minister. He was the Minister of Tourism of Jamaica from 2012 to 2016. He was elected the first vice chair of the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization representing Jamaica in 2012 and elected chairman of the Executive council for the 2014-2015 period. McNeill was elected a Vice President of The People's National Party at the Party's annual conference in September 2016.
Shahine Elizabeth Robinson was a Jamaican politician,who served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security. She was a member of the Parliament of Jamaica for Saint Ann North Eastern. She served briefly as the Transport and Works Minister from late November 2011 to January 2012.
Angela Rosemarie Brown-Burke is a Jamaican politician with the People's National Party.
Clifford Everald Errol Warmington is a Jamaican politician with the Jamaica Labour Party. He has represented the Saint Catherine South Western constituency in the Parliament of Jamaica since 2002.
Floyd Emerson Morris is a former Jamaican politician from the People's National Party. He was the 12th President of the Senate of Jamaica. Morris,who began losing his sight during high school and lost it fully six years later,became the first blind member of the Senate when he was appointed in 1998.
Federal elections were held in the West Indies Federation for the first and only time on 25 March 1958. The result was a victory for the West Indies Federal Labour Party,which won 25 of the 45 seats in the House of Representatives.
General elections were held in Jamaica on Thursday,3 September 2020 to elect 63 members of Parliament. As the constitution stipulates a five-year parliamentary term,the next elections were not expected until between 25 February and 10 June 2021. However,Prime Minister Andrew Holness called early elections to ensure a united response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On the advice of Holness,Governor General Patrick Allen dissolved Parliament on 13 August 2020.
Derrick Austin Rochester,O.J. was a Jamaican politician,trade unionist,and member of the People's National Party (PNP). Rochester served as a member of the House of Representatives for South East St Elizabeth from 1972 to 1980 and a member of the Senate from 1980 to 1983. He then returned to House of Representatives as an MP from South East St Elizabeth from 1989 until his retirement in 2002. A trade unionist who focused on worker negotiations and the country's bauxite industry,Rochester also served as the President of the National Workers Union (NWU) from 1989 to 1993,as well as the NWU island supervisor from 1986 to 1983.
Republicanism in Jamaica is a position which advocates that Jamaica's system of government be changed from a constitutional monarchy to a republic. Both major political parties –the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party –subscribe to the position,and the current Prime Minister of Jamaica,Andrew Holness,has announced that transitioning to a republic will be a priority of his government. In June 2022,the Jamaican government announced its intention that Jamaica become a republic by the time of the next election in 2025. The process will include a two-thirds majority vote in parliament along with a referendum.
Damion O. Crawford is a Jamaican politician.