Andrew Michael Holness, (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has been the

Prime Minister of Jamaica The prime minister of Jamaica is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was sworn in as prime minister on 7 September 2020, having been re-elected as a result of t ...

since 3 March 2016, following the 2016 Jamaican general election. Holness previously served as prime minister from October 2011 to 5 January 2012. He succeeded

Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) 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 h ...

as prime minister, and decided to go to the polls in the 29 December 2011 general election in an attempt to get his own mandate from the Jamaican electorate. He failed in that bid, however, losing to the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local go ...

led by

Portia Simpson-Miller Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller (born 12 December 1945) is a 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 Nationa ...

, with the PNP gaining 42 seats to the Jamaica Labour Party's 21. Following that defeat, Holness served as Leader of the Opposition from January 2012 to March 2016, when he once again assumed the position of prime minister. In 2020, the Labour Party won a landslide in another general election, and on 7 September Holness was sworn in for another term as prime minister. In October 2011, at the age of 39, Holness became the youngest person ever to be elected prime minister in Jamaica's history. In March 2016, aged 43, he became the youngest to ever be re-elected prime minister. He is also the first prime minister to have been born after Jamaica gained independence in 1962.

Early life

Andrew Holness is a graduate of St. Catherine High School and of the University of the West Indies, where he pursued a Bachelor of Science in Management Studies and a Master of Science in Development Studies. In 1997 he married Juliet Holness (''née'' Landell), an accountant, whom he had met as a student at St. Catherine High School during the 1980s. The couple have two children, Adam and Matthew. Holness served as Executive Director at the Voluntary Organization for Uplifting Children from 1994 to 1996 and then joined the Premium Group of Companies, acting as a special assistant to

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Political career

In 1997, he became a Member of Parliament for West Central St. Andrew and served as Opposition Spokesperson on Land and Development from 1999 to 2002. In 2002, he switched portfolio to Housing and then Education in 2005. He was sworn in as Minister of Education in September 2007.

Prime Minister of Jamaica

He succeeded

as both leader of the JLP and prime minister on 23 October 2011, making him the ninth person to hold the office. As prime minister, he chose to retain the education portfolio.

2011 elections

On 5 December 2011, Holness called an election set for 29 December 2011. The JLP campaigned in its strongholds, and Holness highlighted the accomplishments during the four years of JLP government, such as economic growth and crime reduction, which the JLP said the PNP failed to do during its own eighteen years' rule of the country. The JLP, however, lost the election to the PNP, which gained a large majority of 42 to the JLP's 21 parliamentary seats.

and the PNP returned to power. The voter turnout was 53.17%.

2016 elections and re-appointment as Prime Minister

On 25 February 2016, the JLP won the 2016 election winning 32 seats compared to 31 seats for the incumbent PNP. His wife Juliet also won a seat in parliament, the first time a prime minister or opposition leader and their spouse sat simultaneously in the

Parliament of Jamaica The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It consists of three elements: The Crown (represented by the Governor-General), the appointed Senate and the directly elected House of Representatives. The S ...

. As a result, Simpson-Miller became Opposition Leader for a second time. The voter turnout dipped below 50% for the first time, registering just 48.37%.

2020 elections

On 3 September 2020, Holness led the JLP to a second consecutive general election victory, but this time by a much larger margin. The JLP won 49 seats, as compared to the 14 seats for the PNP. However, the turnout was just 37%, probably affected by the coronavirus pandemic. With this victory, he became the youngest person in Jamaica's history to be elected twice. He was sworn in for another term on 7 September 2020.

Republicanism

During the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's tour of Jamaica in March 2022, on behalf of the Jamaican monarch, Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, and as part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of her accession, Holness told the royal couple that their nation was "moving on and we intend to attain in short order our development goals and fulfil our true ambitions as an independent, developed, prosperous country".

Honours

National honours

*: **

Member of the

Order of the Nation The Order of the Nation is a Jamaican honour. It is a part of the Jamaican honours system and was instituted in 1973 as the second-highest honour in the country, with the Order of National Hero being the highest honour. The Order of the Nation ...

Foreign honours

*: **

DOM Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella ribbon

Grand Cross with Gold Breast Star of the

Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella The Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella (''Orden al Mérito de Duarte, Sánchez y Mella'') is the principal order of the Dominican Republic. It was established on 24 February 1931 as the ''Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit'' (''Orden al M� ...

PM Holness and Dominican Republic President conferred national honours
/ref> *: ** 26 May 2021: Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (PC)

References

External links

Profile

Juliet joins husband Andrew in Parliament
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Holness, Andrew 1972 births Living people University of the West Indies alumni Education Ministers of Jamaica Government ministers of Jamaica Jamaica Labour Party politicians Jamaican Seventh-day Adventists Recipients of the Order of the Nation Jamaican members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica People from Spanish Town Prime Ministers of Jamaica Jamaican republicans Members of the 14th Parliament of Jamaica 21st-century Jamaican politicians