Alexis Zook Jeffers (born 25 November 1968) is a

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

politician with the

Concerned Citizens' Movement The Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) is a Nevis-based political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Led by Mark Brantley, it is currently the largest party in Nevis, holding all three seats Nevisian seats in the National Assembly and three out of f ...

. He represents the Saint James constituency in the

Nevis Island Assembly The Nevis Island Assembly is the devolved local legislative body for the island of Nevis within the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis. The Assembly has a total of eight members. Five are directly elected in single-member constituencies using the ...

, and has also stood as a candidate for election to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

Career

Before entering politics, Jeffers worked in a car rental company and founded a swimming pool cleaning company. In late 2009, Jeffers announced that he would stand for election to represent Nevis #11 District in the January 2010 general election. At the time, he held

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

of Saint Kitts and Nevis and the United States. Under Article 28 of Saint Kitts and Nevis' 1983 constitution, a person is not qualified for election to the National Assembly "if he is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state". However, whether dual citizens could be nominated was a matter of debate until the passage of the National Assembly Elections Act (2009), which required all candidates for elections to swear at the time of their nomination that they lacked citizenship in any other country. As Saint Kitts and Nevis did not have a United States embassy, Jeffers had to go to

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

to renounce U.S. citizenship. His renunciation was confirmed by a notice in the U.S.' ''

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on feder ...

'' in February 2010. However, he lost the election to

Patrice Nisbett Patrice Nisbett (born 1971 in St. James Parish, Nevis) is Nevisian politician. He was Attorney General of Saint Kitts and Nevis and minister of justice from 2010 to 2013. He was then appointed as foreign minister of the federal government, and ...

of the

Nevis Reformation Party The Nevis Reformation Party is a Nevis-based political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The party currently holds none of the eleven seats in the National Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis, National Assembly. It is the official opposition party on ...

, who would go on to become

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs. Though he lost to Nisbett in the federal election, Jeffers had more success in Nevis Island elections, beating Nesbitt by 37 votes to win the Saint James seat in the

in July 2011. During his second term there, Jeffers spoke out a number of times against alleged irregularities in the elections process. In the first sitting of the new term of the Nevis Island Assembly in October, Jeffers and his fellow CCM members staged a walkout, boycotting parliamentary business for that day. In June 2012, he called for Saint James Registration Officer Clayton Mills to step down, accusing him of political bias with regards to his handling of 108 voters on the electoral rolls in the district, whom the CCM claimed to be wrongfully registered. He also spoke out against fuel surcharges. Jeffers will face off against Nisbett again in Nevis Island elections in 2012. In his campaign, he attacked Nisbett for the many roles he was playing in government, stating that "no man can serve two masters" and urging him to step down from his position as Attorney-General if he wanted to contest the election.

Personal life

Jeffers did his early education in Nevis at the St James Primary School, Gingerland Secondary School, and Charlestown Secondary School Sixth Form College. He went on to the United States for tertiary education, where he attended

Broward College Broward College is a public college in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. It was established in 1959 as part of a move to broaden Florida's two-year colleges. In 2008 it adopted its current name, reflecting that ...

and then

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffers, Alexis 1968 births Living people Broward College alumni Florida Atlantic University alumni People from Nevis Former United States citizens Concerned Citizens' Movement politicians