Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and former leader of the Congress of the People. She was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for

San Fernando West San Fernando West is a parliamentary electoral district in comprising the western part of the city of San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. It came into effect in time for the 1956 Trinidad and Tobago general election. Members of Parliament This c ...

from 2010 until 2015.

Early life

Her mother is Irma Seepersad and her sister is Suzanne Seepersad. She holds both a bachelors and masters degree in engineering. In 1996, she was appointed as chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company. She was a lecturer in engineering at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

for over twenty years. She also served as a member of the UWI Board of Engineering Institute.

Political career

Seepersad-Bachan was appointed as an Opposition Senator in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 17 October 2002 to 29 June 2006 as a representative of the

United National Congress The United National Congress ( UNC or UNCTT) is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, e ...

. She was one of the founding members of the Congress of the People in September 2006 and was appointed a deputy political leader. She was elected to the

as the member for the electoral district of

on 24 May 2010. She was affiliated with the Congress of the People, which was a member of the

People's Partnership The People's Partnership (PP) was a political coalition in Trinidad and Tobago among five political parties: the United National Congress (UNC), the Congress of the People (COP), the Tobago Organization of the People (TOP), Movement for Social ...

at the time. She was appointed Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs on 28 May 2010, becoming the first female energy minister in Trinidad and Tobago. She held this position until 27 June 2011 when she was appointed Minister of Public Administration. She chose not to run for re-election in the 2015 general election due to differences in opinion with the People's Partnership leader,

Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Persad-Bissessar ( ; born Kamla Susheila Persad, 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, politica ...

, and the Congress of the People leader,

Prakash Ramadhar Prakash is a common given name in Asian, Hindu, Sanskrit names and widely used in Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. Prakash is generally used as a masculine name. The word prakash is derived from the Sanskrit word "prakāśa", meaning "bright light" or " ...

. On 19 November 2017, Seepersad-Bachan won the leadership elections for the Congress of the People, beating Sharon Ann Gopaul-McNicol, and took over as party leader. She contested the electoral district of St. Augustine in the 2020 general election but lost to

Khadijah Ameen Khadijah Ameen is a Trinidad and Tobago politician representing the United National Congress. She has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for St. Augustine since the 2020 general election. She is the current deputy ...

. She resigned as party leader of the Congress of the People on 11 August 2020.

Legal career

Seepersad-Bachan received her

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and completed the

legal practice course The Legal Practice Course (LPC)also known as the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practiceis a postgraduate course and the final educational stage for becoming a solicitor in England, Wales and Australia (where it is commonly known as "practical l ...

Staffordshire University , mottoeng = Dare to know , type = Public , endowment = £70 million (2015) , administrative_staff = 1,375 , chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford , vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones , ...

. She then completed six months of legal training, including participating in the first judge-only trial in

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

. She was called to the bar at the Hall of Justice in Port Spain on 10 May 2019.

Personal life

Seepersad-Bachan is married to Suresh Bachan and has two children: Suren and Saskia.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Seepersad-Bachan, Carolyn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago) Women government ministers of Trinidad and Tobago Government ministers of Trinidad and Tobago 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago women politicians 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago politicians Members of the Senate (Trinidad and Tobago) Congress of the People (Trinidad and Tobago) politicians Academic staff of the University of the West Indies Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Staffordshire University