Harold Bernard St. John

Sir Harold Bernard Saint John (born August 16, 1931 - February 29, 2004 in Bridgetown ) was a politician from Barbados .

biography

A member of the Barbados Labor Party (BLP) since 1959, St. John began his political career when he was appointed Senator in 1964 . After the sovereignty of the United Kingdom on November 30, 1966, he was elected a Member of the House of Assembly . When he lost this mandate again in 1971 because of the loss of votes by the BLP, he was reappointed Senator for five years.

After the election victory of the BLP in 1976 and his re-election to the assembly house, he was appointed by Prime Minister John Michael G. Adams on September 7, 1976 as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Tourism in his cabinet.

As Adams on March 11, 1985, he was his successor by virtue of office. Immediately afterwards he had to deal with finding a solution to the extensive problems of trade and payments within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) , which had a lasting impact on the country's economy. He quickly established himself as a direct and open spokesman for his government's position. His September 1985 threat of reprisals against Trinidad and Tobago if it did not implement the Nassau agreements on international trade was the result of subsequent apparently constructive talks with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister George Michael Chambers at the October Commonwealth of Nations Summit 1985 in Nassau. After the death of Adams he was able to establish himself quickly as chairman of the BLP, but there were internal party disputes, which he resolved by the appointment of a new Deputy Prime Minister. After the election defeat of the BLP he was succeeded on May 29, 1986 by Errol Walton Barrow of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) as the new Prime Minister.

In 1994 he handed over the chairmanship to Owen Arthur , who led the BLP to an election victory in the same year and became Prime Minister. Arthur appointed him Deputy Prime Minister on September 7, 1994. For his services he was also raised to the nobility as Knight of St Andrew of the Order of Barbados in November 1994 and was allowed to use the suffix Sir . He left the cabinet in 1999 and then resigned from the House of Assembly in 2003.

Web links

• rulers.org