Fenton Rudyard Ferguson is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n politician with the People's National Party. He began serving as Jamaica's Minister of labor and social security under Prime Minister

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 ...

in 2012. He is a

dental surgeon A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial comp ...

. Fenton Ferguson was the MP for

Saint Thomas Eastern Saint Thomas Eastern is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Representatives of the Jamaican Parliament. It covers the eastern part of Saint Thomas Parish. Fenton Ferguson was the MP but lost his seat in the 2020 general e ...

. His opponent in 2016 was Mr. Delano Seiveright. Ferguson was moved to labor and social security after he remarked that babies who died as a result of the

Klebsiella ''Klebsiella'' is a genus of Gram-negative, oxidase-negative, rod-shaped bacteria with a prominent polysaccharide-based capsule. ''Klebsiella'' species are found everywhere in nature. This is thought to be due to distinct sublineages developin ...

outbreak in 2015 at Victoria Jubilee Hospital are “not babies in the real sense” during his tenure as Minister of Health when many premature babies died from that bacteria.

Career

Ferguson was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

from East St. Thomas, defeating

Pearnel Charles Pearnel Charles (born 1936) is a Jamaican politician with the Jamaica Labour Party who was the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Early life Charles was born in 1936 in the parish of St. Ann. He attended Lime Tree Garden Elementary School ...

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 ...

and ending the JLP's 45-year hold on the constituency. He was elected a vice-president of the People's National Party in 2006 along with

Angela Brown-Burke Angela Rosemarie Brown-Burke is a Jamaican politician with the People's National Party. Career Brown-Burke started her political career as a Corporate Area Councillor of the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation. She was elected a vice-preside ...

Derrick Kellier Derrick Flavius Leroy Kellier (born 27 May 1947) is a Jamaican businessman and politician, representing the People's National Party (PNP). He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Saint James Southern from 1989 to 2020. He serv ...

, and

Peter Phillips Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November 1977) is a British businessman and the son of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. He is the eldest nephew of King Charles III, and 17th in the line of succession to the British throne. ...

, beating out

Sharon Hay-Webster Sharon Hay-Webster (born 29 September 1961) is a Jamaican politician. She was a member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Jamaica from 1997 to 2012, representing the People's National Party. She came to international attention ...

, Louis Moyston and Kern Spencer. He faced Charles' daughter

Patrece Charles-Freeman Patrece Charles-Freeman is a Jamaican public and environmental health consultant, as well as a political candidate with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Public health work Charles-Freeman lived in the United States while doing her bachelor's at the ...

in the 2011 election in the same East St. Thomas constituency, defeating her by 8,018 votes to 7,547. On September 3, 2020 parliamentary elections, Ferguson lost his seat to Dr. Michelle Charles, the daughter of Pearnel Charles Sr and brother of Pearnel Charles Jr. For the first time ever a brother and sister pair sat in Gordon House.

Personal life

Ferguson attended Ardenne High School in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

before moving to the United States to attend Howard University, where he earned a B.Sc. in chemistry in 1974. His sister, Dr. Millicent A. Comrie, specializes in obstetrics and gynecology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Fenton Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People's National Party (Jamaica) politicians Ministers of Health of Jamaica Howard University alumni People from Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica