Stephenson King (born 13 November 1958[2]) is the former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is the Senior Minister and Minister for Infrastructure,Ports,Transport,Physical Development,and Urban Renewal.[3] King was the former candidate for the United Workers Party (UWP).[4] He now represents the constituency of Castries North as an Independent candidate as of July 2021,after resigning from the UWP.[5][4]
He is the son of Grafton King;a renowned seaman,from Canouan,St.Vincent,and Marie Bernadette Satney,a seamstress from the village of Choiseul.[6] He attended the Methodist Infant and Primary Schools for his early infant and primary schooling. Later,he was admitted to the Seventh Day Adventist Academy,where he continued his secondary education.[6]
Pre-politics career
Following the completion of his secondary education,King gained employment at the former St. Lucia Co-operative Bank Ltd (now 1st National Bank of St Lucia),where he served for two and a half years. He resigned in 1981 to accept an offer from the law firm of Floissac and Giraudy,where he served for seven years as Accountant,Trade Marks Clerk/Paralegal.
Political career
In 1981 following the inaugural youth conference of the United Workers Party,King was elected the President of the party's youth arm. In 1982 after having actively participated in the election campaign of that year he was appointed a City Councilor of the Castries City Council and a board member of the St. Lucia Housing Authority,serving in both capacities for 5 years. During that period he also formed and became the founding President of the Rotaract Club of Saint Lucia,resigning in 1987 when he entered elective politics.
Stephenson entered the political fray on the island when he was nominated as the candidate for the Castries North-East Constituency. In the first election on 6 April 1987 he got 2,411 votes against former Prime Minister Michael Pilgrim of the St Lucia Labour Party (1772 votes) and Oswald Augustin of the Progressive Labour Party (846 votes). In the second (snap) election on 30 April 1987 he polled 2,731 votes to Pilgrim's 2,549 votes and Augustin's 375 votes. He was then appointed as a Cabinet Minister,serving as the Minister for Community Development,Social Affairs,Youth,Sports,and local Government.
He faced the electorate again in 1992 against lawyer Wilkie Larcher of the St Lucia Labour Party. He was able to register a bigger victory this time polling 3,511 to Larcher's 2,009. Following the election he was appointed to the Cabinet as the Minister for Health,Local Government,Information and Broadcasting.
He would succumb in the tumultuous defeat of the United Worker's Party in the 1997 election where he was defeated by George Odlum on a St Lucia Labour Party ticket. The results of the election show Odlum overcoming the incumbent 3960 to 2604,the lowest number of votes King would ever gain in an election. He took a nine-year sabbatical from elective politics although remaining chairman of the party for most of this period.
Following a short-lived struggle between himself and Cybelle Cenac for that right King received the endorsement of the United Workers Party in 2006 to contest the general elections as the candidate for Castries North. He would defeat the sitting Minister of Agriculture at the polls,which also saw his United Worker's Party return to office.
The UWP won a majority of seats in the 2006 election,and a new government under Compton was sworn in on 19 December 2006. King was named Minister for Health and Labour Relations.[7]
Compton's illness in May 2007 prompted King to be named Acting Prime Minister. In a cabinet reshuffle in early June 2007,he became Minister of Finance (inclusive of International Financial Services),External Affairs,Home Affairs,National Security,Labor,Information and Broadcasting.[8] In an ironic twist,King assumed the mantle while a few months earlier he had been seen as a Lewis loyalist in the party's leadership race.
Compton died on 7 September 2007,and King announced his death on 8 September.[9]
King reshuffled the cabinet on 12 September. In addition to Prime Ministership,he assumed the roles of External Affairs,Home Affairs and National Security.[12] King also held the modified portfolio of Minister of Finance (including International Financial Services),Economic Affairs,Economic Planning and National Development.
Stephenson King and his wife Rosella being welcomed by William Hague.
King also dismissed the representative of Central Castries and Minister of Housing Richard Frederick from cabinet in 2011,following a scandal created by the revocation of his visitors and diplomatic visas by the United States Government.
King was at the center of media and public attention in June 2021 as rumors went on that he was going to leave the United Workers Party.[16] King remained silent for weeks before breaking his silence in a dubbed "Address to the Nation";this address was televised live on the Saint Lucia Choice Media Network and Liberty FM Radio. In his address King stated that he will not contest the 2021 general election on a UWP ticket but as an independent candidate.[17] Prime Minister Allen Chastanet accepted King's resignation on 8 July 2021.[5] King would be replaced the day after on 9 July 2021 by President of the Saint Lucia Senate Jeannine Giraudy-McIntyre.[18]
King went on to justify his withdrawal in his "Address to The Nation",stating:
"Never have I been so repulsed by the blatant disrespect and callous contempt in which so many ordinary people have been held by those who now hold political office. Today, I find myself unable to recognise the founding principles of my party in the government, that I am supposedly a part of, and say 'Sa pa Flambeau'.
In all good conscience I cannot go to the people and ask them to endorse for another five years, what has just preceded us and to repose the leadership of this country, in the same group of people in some mistaken belief that it will be alright in the morning.
So after deep and profound soul searching, consultations and prayers, and after having spent so much time, indeed for the past few years, attempting to share my wisdom with my colleagues to pursue a different brand of politics, I have reached the inevitable and painful conclusion that I can no longer be part of an organisation that I can hardly recognise."
King would go on to receive public backlash. Mary Francis, an attorney at law, commented "There is a price to pay for treachery and time will tell", referencing to King's upcoming decision. Some members of the public took to social media to express their disappointment and disagreement, whilst others agreed with the decision.[19]
King won re-election as an independent in the 2021 Saint Lucian general election, defeating his UWP opponent Jeannine Giraudy-McIntyre with 69.5% of the vote.
Personal life
King married Rosella Nestor, his longtime partner in a wedding ceremony in Miami on Saturday 29 November 2008.[citation needed]
Politics of Saint Lucia takes place in the framework of an independent parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy, with King Charles III as its head of state, represented by a Governor General, who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party of the house, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state. The Governor General exercises basically ceremonial functions, but residual powers, under the constitution, can be used at the governor general's discretion. The actual power in St. Lucia lies with the prime minister and the cabinet, usually representing the majority party in parliament.
Kenny Davis Anthony is a Saint Lucian politician who was Prime Minister of Saint Lucia from 1997 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. As leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party, he was Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2011 and returned to office as Prime Minister on 30 November 2011 following the 2011 election. He left office after the SLP's defeat in the 2016 election and announced his resignation as party leader.
Sir John George Melvin Compton, was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first Prime Minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton served as Prime Minister three times: briefly in 1979, again from 1982 to 1996, and from 2006 until his death in 2007. He cofounded the conservative United Workers Party (UWP) in 1964; he led the party until 1996, again from 1998 to 2000, and again from 2005 to 2007.
The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) is a social democratic political party in Saint Lucia. It currently holds 13 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly.
The United Workers Party is a conservative political party in Saint Lucia currently led by former Tourism Minister Allen Chastanet, who defeated former Prime Minister Stephenson King in a July 28, 2013 leadership election. The party was led previously by Sir John Compton, the party's founder.
Vaughan Allen Lewis, KCSL CBE, is a Saint Lucian politician and a former member of the United Workers' Party (UWP). He served for a brief period as the fifth Prime Minister of Saint Lucia following the resignation of John Compton. Lewis, a former director of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, assumed the office of Prime Minister on 2 April 1996. He also served as Minister of Finance, Planning and Development, and Minister of External Affairs. In elections that followed on 23 May 1997, Lewis and the UWP suffered a huge setback, losing all but one of their seats in Parliament, forcing him to resign in favor of the leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party, Dr Kenny Anthony.
Sir (William) George Mallet GCSL GCMG CBE was a politician who was Governor-General of Saint Lucia and held a number of high offices in the island Saint Lucia, one of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Eastern Caribbean. Sir George served as the Minister for Trade, Industry, Agriculture and Tourism in the first post-independence government of St Lucia beginning in 1979. In later years, Sir George served as Deputy Prime Minister and was responsible for numerous government ministries including Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs and CARICOM Affairs.
Richard Frederick is a Saint Lucian lawyer and politician. He is the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Housing and Local Government. Fredrick made his debut in the 2021 Saint Lucian General Election, earning his seat for the Castries Central Constituency as an Independent candidate in the House of Assembly. He previously served in parliament from 2006 to 2016, and he was Minister for Physical Planning, Housing, Urban Renewal and Local Government.
Philip Joseph Pierre is a Saint Lucian politician currently serving as the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia since 28 July 2021. Pierre serves as the Minister for Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy. He is the Leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party since 18 June 2016. He has represented the Castries East constituency in the House of Assembly since 1997.
Marcus Neill Nicholas is a Saint Lucian politician who represented the Dennery North constituency for the United Workers Party (UWP) in the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia. He was also the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly.
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.
Keith Raymond Rufus Mondesir is a Saint Lucian politician. He has been a United Workers Party member of the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia and a member of the Saint Lucian cabinet since 2006, serving in the administrations of John Compton and Stephenson King.
Peter Lenard "Spider" Montoute is a Saint Lucian politician and former Minister and parliamentary representative for Gros Islet for the United Workers Party (UWP). Montoute lost his seat in the 2021 Saint Lucian general election to Kenson Casimir; this was a landslide victory for the Saint Lucia Labour Party.
Ezechiel Joseph is a Saint Lucian politician and former representative for the constituency of Babonneau and senator, for the United Workers Party in the House of Assembly. Joseph served as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives in his 2016 - 2021 tenure. Joseph lost his seat in the 2021 Saint Lucian General Election dubbed a landslide victory for the Saint Lucia Labour Party.
Rufus George Bousquet is a Saint Lucian politician who formerly represented the constituency of Choiseul for the United Workers Party. Bousquet last won the seat at the general election held on 11 December 2006 but lost it to Lorne Theophilus in the November 2011 General Elections. Prior to 2000 his name was Bruce Tucker or, from 1989, Joseph Michael Bousquet.
Marie-Josephine Mara Thompson is a Saint Lucian-born Barbadian politician, educator and widow of the sixth Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson, who died in office on 23 October 2010. After being chosen as the most favored candidate. Thompson won the special by-election to succeed her husband in the Saint John constituency on Thursday, 20 January 2011, holding the seat for the Democratic Labour Party.
Sir Emmanuel Neville Cenac is the former governor-general of Saint Lucia. He was appointed to that post in January 2018. On 28 July 2021 Cenac is reported to have signalled his intention to resign. As of 31 October, he demitted the viceregal office. He was previously best known as a Saint Lucian politician, serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1987 to 1992.
General elections were held in Saint Lucia on 26 July 2021, having been constitutionally required by 12 October 2021. Voters elected all 17 members of the House of Assembly. The result was a victory for the opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party, which won 13 of the 17 seats in the House, while the ruling United Workers Party lost nine of its eleven seats, its worst result since 1997. It was the fourth consecutive election in which the incumbent government was defeated.
Ernest Hilaire is a Saint Lucian politician who is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information. Hilaire also serves as the 1st Deputy Political Leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party. Hilaire serves in the House of Assembly as the representative for Castries South. Hilaire is the former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for Saint Lucia. He served in opposition from 2016 till the landslide victory of the Saint Lucia Labour Party in the 2021 general election.
Henry Giraudy, O.B.E., Q.C., was a Saint Lucian politician best known as the co-founder and chairman of the United Workers Party (UWP) from 1964 until his death.
* Served as Chief Minister of St Lucia. † Served as Premier of St Lucia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
