Godfrey P. Smith is a

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

an jurist, attorney and politician. A member of the

People's United Party The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House ...

(PUP), Smith is a former member of the

Belize House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Belize is one of two chambers of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives." Area Representatives are elect ...

Career

Smith was named Attorney-General of Belize in 1999. In 2003 he became

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, Defence and National Emergency Management Organization. Smith defeated Bobby Usher, the nephew of former Prime Minister

George Cadle Price George Cadle Price, (15 January 191919 September 2011), was a Belizean statesman who served twice as the head of government of Belize from 1961–1984 and 1989–1993. He served as First Minister and Premier under British rule until inde ...

, to receive the PUP's nomination as its candidate for Pickstock constituency in the 2003 election. Price had represented Pickstock since 1989, a constituency that had always been held by the PUP. Smith won the seat in the 2003 election and ran for a second term in the February 2008 election, facing

Wilfred Elrington Wilfred Peter "Sedi" Elrington (born 20 November 1948)

of the United Democratic Party (UDP). This time Smith was defeated, and the PUP lost power in the election. In August 2004, Smith was part of the G-7 group of ministers who demanded the dismissal of

Ralph Fonseca Ralph Henry Fonseca (born 9 August 1949) is a Belizean politician and a member of the People's United Party. Political history In 1984, he became a candidate for the House of Representatives in Queen's Square, running against attorney and ci ...

from the Cabinet and resigned when Prime Minister

Said Musa Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008. Early life and education Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the Cayo ...

did not meet that demand. Later, Smith was re-elected as one of the PUP's deputy leaders in July 2007. In April 2006 he gave up the foreign and defense ministries and became minister of tourism, information and emergency management. Godfrey smith was also a writer. He wrote the biography of Honorable

, and is currently writing the biography of a Jamaican government official. He also recently wrote a biography of Mr

Norman Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate ...

of Jamaica. Smith is now serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

Education and personal life

Smith was born in

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, wh ...

. From 1989 to 1994, he attended 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 ...

, where he received a

LL.B. 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 People's Republic of Chi ...

degree. Smith also has a

Legal Education Certificate In the Commonwealth Caribbean, a Legal Education Certificate is a professional certification awarded to a person who has completed a course of study and training at a law school established by the Council of Legal Education. It was created by Articl ...

from

Norman Manley Law School The Norman Manley Law School is a law school in Jamaica. Building and location The Norman Manley Law School is located on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, yet it is a distinct and separate institution. Its building, design ...

. He later received a master of arts in international relations from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...

in Massachusetts in 2002. He is married to

Valerie Woods Valerie Woods Smith (born in 1973) is a Belizean politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Representatives since December 2020. Education Woods has a BSc in Business Administration from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York and a ma ...

, who has been

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the country's

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 ...

since December 2020.

References

External links

Reprints of Smith's newspaper column
1968 births Living people People from Belize City British Honduras people People's United Party politicians Attorneys-General of Belize Foreign ministers of Belize Government ministers of Belize Members of the Belize House of Representatives for Pickstock Belizean media personalities {{Belize-politician-stub