Neville Cenac

The Honourable Sir Neville Cenac GCSL GCMG
6th Governor-General of Saint Lucia
In office 12 January 2018 – 10 November 2021
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Allen Chastanet Philip J. Pierre
Preceded by	Pearlette Louisy
Succeeded by	Errol Charles (acting)
President of the Senate of Saint Lucia
In office October 1993 – June 1997
Preceded by	Emmanuel Henry Giraudy
Succeeded by	Hilford Deterville
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1987–1992
Preceded by	John Compton
Succeeded by	George Mallet
Personal details
Born	(1939-11-24) 24 November 1939 Castries, Saint Lucia
Political party	Saint Lucia Labour Party 1968-1987, United Workers Party 1987-
Relatives	Winston Cenac (brother)

Sir Emmanuel Neville Cenac GCSL GCMG (born 24 November 1939) 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 (but his demission was with effect 10 November). He was previously best known as a Saint Lucian politician, serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1987 to 1992.

On 18 January 2018, Cenac was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 2018 Special Honours.

Also in 2018, Cenac was appointed Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Lucia (GCSL), in his capacity as Chancellor of the Order.

Early life

Cenac was the brother of Prime Minister Winston Cenac, who was the head of government for eight months from 1981 to 1982. Cenac joined the Saint Lucia Labour Party in 1968. He was the mayor of Castries from 1981 to 1982, when he resigned in to became the leader of Labour Party and the Leader of the Opposition in 1982.

Opposition parliamentarian

Cenac was the Leader of the Opposition in December 1982, during a constitutional dispute over the status of Governor-General Boswell Williams. John Compton, the serving prime minister and a member of the governing United Workers Party, had taken steps to have Williams unseated. In response, Cenac wrote a letter to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the monarch of Saint Lucia, asking her to disregard Compton's actions. The dispute ended when Williams resigned on 13 December 1982.

Cenac was returned as a Labour Party member of the Saint Lucian parliament during the country's two successive elections in April 1987.

The website of the Saint Lucia Labour Party indicates that Cenac was elected for the Laborie constituency in two elections as well as representing the party at the municipal level in Castries.

Cabinet minister

Cenac changed his political affiliation on 2 June 1987, joining the United Workers Party group in parliament and becoming the country's foreign minister. When asked why he changed sides, Cenac simply responded, "broken promises". The change increased the Workers Party's legislative majority from one vote (9–8) to three votes (10–7).

Cenac spoke before the United Nations General Assembly in October 1987, saying that Saint Lucia was considering political union with other small Caribbean nations. He argued that quality of life issues could be improved if the region no longer had to support "seven governors-general, seven prime ministers, [and] 60 ministers for a total population for about 500,000." Cenac also accused Guatemala of threatening the sovereignty of Belize.

In August 1989, Cenac and other Caribbean foreign ministers met with Haitian head of state General Prosper Avril on the subject of future elections in the country.

Cenac served as foreign minister until 1992. He was appointed as UWP senator in 1992, and in 1993 was appointed as President of the Senate. He was president of the Senate of Saint Lucia from October 1993 to June 1997.