Derrick Flavius Leroy Kellier (born 27 May 1947) is a Jamaican businessman and politician, representing the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) is a Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Jamaica, political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in ...

(PNP). He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of

Saint James Southern Saint James Southern is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Representatives of the Jamaican Parliament. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. The constituency was first contested in ...

from 1989 to 2020. He served as Minister of Labour and Social Security from 2006 to 2007, and again from 2012 to 2015. Kellier also served concurrently as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from 2014 to 2016.

Early life and education

Kellier was born on 27 May 1947 in Welcome Hall,

St James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints *James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater **Saint James Matamoro ...

. He was educated at Roehampton Primary School in

and at

Calabar High School Calabar High School is an all-male secondary school in Kingston, Jamaica. It was established by the Jamaica Baptist Union in 1912 for the children of Baptist ministers. It was named after the Kalabari Kingdom later anglicized by the British ...

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

Political career

In 1978, Kellier was elected National Chairman of the People’s National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO). He was first elected to 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 ...

from the

constituency in the 1989 general election, polling 7,980 votes to 3,852 for Ephraim Morgan of the

Jamaica Labour Party The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party (as is the case for "Labour" parties in seve ...

(JLP), and 452 for Princess Vernon (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

). He went on to win the constituency for the PNP in the 1993, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2011, and 2016 general elections. From 1989 to 1995, Kellier served as Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and in the Ministry of Education and Culture. He then served as Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister and from October 2002 in the Ministry of National Security. When

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 ...

became Prime Minister on 30 March 2006, she appointed Kellier to her cabinet a day later as Minister of Labour and Social Security. He remained in office until the PNP went into opposition after its election defeat in September 2007. After the PNP won the 29 December, 2011 general elections and returned to power, Prime Minister Simpson-Miller reappointed Kellier as Minister of Labour and Social Security. He was sworn in as minister on 6 January 2012. Since October 2014, he has also assumed the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries after Roger Clarke, the sitting minister, died in office. He was succeeded as Minister of Labour and Social Security by Fenton Ferguson on 9 November 2015. In 2018, Kellier announced his intention to retire from representational politics after the next general election. He did not contest the 2020 general election, and was succeeded as MP by

Homer Davis Homer Davis is a Jamaican Labour Party politician and Minister of State in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. References Living people 21st-century Jamaican politicians Government ministers of Jamaica People from Sa ...

of the JLP.

Honors and awards

Kellier was awarded the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') i ...

, Commander Class in 2009.

Personal life

Kellier married Claudia Kellier (née Nelson) on 1 December 1981. He is the father of 5 daughters.

Early life and education

Political career

Honors and awards

Personal life

See also