Sir Lester Bryant Bird
KNH KNH or knh may refer to:
* Kamla Nehru Hospital, a hospital located in Gandhi Medical College campus, Madhya Pradesh, India
* Kenyatta National Hospital, the oldest hospital in Kenya
* KNH, the IATA code for Kinmen Airport, Fujian, Republic of Chin ...
(21 February 1938 – 9 August 2021) was an Antigua and Barbuda politician and athlete who served as the
second prime minister of
Antigua and Barbuda from 1994 to 2004. He was chairman of the
Antigua Labour Party
The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. The current leader of the party is Gaston Browne, who serves as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. The party had previously been led by Lester Bird ...
(ALP) from 1971 to 1983, then became prime minister when his father,
Sir Vere Bird, the previous prime minister, resigned.
Early life and education
Bird was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
on 21 February 1938.
[Roger East and Richard Thomas,]
Profiles of people in power: the world's government leaders
(2003). Psychology Press, pp. 16-17. Lester and his elder brother
Vere Bird Jr., also a British-educated lawyer, were considered sometime rivals, with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' writing in 1990 that Lester had always overshadowed his brother, according to those who have known them both.
[Howard W. French,]
Island's Hushed Scandals, Unhushed
, ''The New York Times'', 16 June 1990.[Robert Glass, "Caribbean Island Focus of International Arms Scandal", Associated Press, 14 May 1990.] He was educated at Antigua Grammar School and was brought up as a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
. Bird was a
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
er in his youth, playing for the
Leeward Islands, and a
long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...
champion. He won a bronze medal in the long jump at the
1959 Pan American Games
The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959.
Host city selection
One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Am ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
while representing the
British West Indies
The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...
. He attended the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, where he was
All-American long jumper in 1960 and graduated in 1962.
Bird completed his study of law in Britain and was
called to the bar at
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
in 1969. From 1969 to 1976, Bird engaged in private practice in Antigua.
Political career
Bird's political career began in 1971, when he was nominated to the
Senate. The frequently-dominant Antigua Labour Party was in opposition for a five-year period. Bird was named chairman of the ALP and the
leader of the opposition in the Senate. Lester continued to serve as leader of the opposition until he was 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 ...
at the 1976 elections, when the ALP returned to power.
Bird joined his father's government as Deputy Prime Minister. In addition to serving as Deputy Prime Minister, Bird also served as Minister of Economic Development, Tourism, and Energy. Bird's tenure as Minister of Tourism and Minister of Economic Development was controversial, and he personally benefited from tourism partnerships with foreign investors, including in the construction of the Royal Antiguan Hotel.
Following independence in 1981, Bird gained the external affairs portfolio and was the first chairman of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States in 1982. He was chairman of OECS for a second time in 1989.
The ALP government and Bird himself won
re-election in 1994 and
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
. These elections, as well as the 1989 elections, were highly controversial; the 1989 elections were "marred by irregularities and fraud" and charges made by the opposition, described as credible by
Freedom House, that the ALP used bribery and intimidation and exerted undue influence over the elections supervisor.
[ Freedom House, ''Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights & Civil Liberties, 1993–1994'' (1994). University Press of America, pp. 117–119.] The 1999 election was deemed neither free nor fair in an independent report which concluded that the opposition
United Progressive Party (UPP) "conceivably could have won a majority of seats in parliament" if the election had been fair.
The ALP had been divided by a succession crisis between Lester Bird and Vere Bird, Jr., since 1989. Lester Bird lost his deputy prime minister post in 1991, but retained the external affairs ministry and the planning and trade portfolio. Sir Vere Bird was initially thought to have favoured Vere Jr. until an arms scandal in which the elder son had been found to have been involved in the smuggling of weapons from Antigua to the
Colombian
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...
.
Vere Bird, Jr., then Minister of Public Works, was dismissed from office and an inquiry, led by
Sir Louis Blom-Cooper,
Q.C.
QC may refer to:
* Queen's Counsel, the title of a King's Counsel, a type of lawyer in Commonwealth countries, during the reign of a queen
* Quality control, the process of meeting products and services to consumer expectations
Places
* Quebec, ...
, recommended that he never be allowed to hold office again (although he subsequently did return to office), boosting Lester Bird's chances to follow his father in the prime ministership and reducing pressure for Vere Bird to step down.
In 1992, another scandal, involving Sir Vere Bird's siphoning of public funds into a personal account, furthered calls for him to step down, with three opposition parties uniting to form the UPP under the leadership of
Baldwin Spencer. Following a successful
general strike called by the UPP, Sir Vere announced in March 1992 he would step down at the 1994 general elections.
The ALP succession crisis continued following this, with a special convention to elect a successor on 24 May 1992 resulting in a deadlock between Lester Bird and
John St. Luce, the
information minister
An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...
. The ALP leadership question was finally settled at the party's September 1993 convention, at which Lester won the leadership of the party, defeating St Luce, 169 votes to 131. The party post of ALP chairman went to Vere Jr.
In the
March 1994 elections, the ALP under Bird's leadership won 11 out of 17 seats even as the opposition criticized the ALP over corruption issues. During the election the ALP pledged
open government
Open government is the governing doctrine which sustain that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state and ...
, an
ombudsman to deal with citizen complaints, and new jobs, especially in
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
. Bird assumed the prime ministership on 9 March 1994.
He appointed St. Luce (but not his brother Vere Jr.) to the cabinet. (Vere Jr. was subsequently named special adviser). Lester Bird took the portfolios for external affairs, planning,
social services, and information for himself, and in a 1996
cabinet reshuffle
A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...
also took the communications,
civil aviation
Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...
, international transport, and
gaming
Gaming may refer to:
Games and sports
The act of playing games, as in:
* Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming"
* Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles
* Playin ...
portfolios.
In the
1999 elections, the ALP increased its parliamentary majority by one seat, holding 12 seats. Bird was reconfirmed as prime minister and elevated Vere Jr. to the cabinet as
minister of agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...
, marking his full
political rehabilitation
Political rehabilitation is the process by which a disgraced member of a political party or a government is restored to public respectability and thus political acceptability. The term is usually applied to leaders or other prominent individuals ...
. Bird also shuffled his own portfolios and by December 2002 held the
foreign affairs,
finance, legal affairs, justice, and
national security ministries in addition to being the prime minister.
In the
March 2004 election, the ALP was defeated by the
United Progressive Party (UPP) led by
Baldwin Spencer. Bird's party lost eight seats, and he himself was defeated by
Errol Cort Errol Cort, is a Antigua and Barbuda politician, lawyer and economist. He was Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs and Attorney General of Antigua and Barbuda from 1999 to 2001 and has been involved with successful electoral reforms in the country ...
, who became
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
in the new UPP government.
Bird remained the ALP's political leader following the party's 2004 defeat. He led the party in the
March 2009 election; although the ALP lost the election, it gained 3 seats from the UPP and Bird defeated Cort by 96 votes in the St John's Rural East constituency, where he had lost in 2004. He subsequently held the position of
Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition
The Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, more commonly referred to as the Leader of the Opposition, is the person who leads the His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, Official Opposition in the United Kingdom. The position is seen as the ...
.
Bird was succeeded as ALP leader by
Gaston Browne
Gaston Alfonso Browne (born 9 February 1967) is the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda. He has been its leader since 2014. Before entering politics, he was a banker and businessman.
Early life
Browne wa ...
in 2012, who led the party to victory in
June 2014 general election. Bird won a seat and again defeated Errol Cort.
In 2014, he was made a
Knight of the Order of the National Hero (KNH) by Antigua and Barbuda.
Death
Bird died at the age of 83 on 9 August 2021.
See also
*
Bruce Rappaport
Baruch "Bruce" Rappaport (February 15, 1922 – January 8, 2010) was an international banker and financier. He was born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine to Russian-Jewish emigre parents.
Bank of New York-InterMaritime
His Bank of New York-InterMari ...
*
List of foreign ministers in 2004
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Lester
1938 births
2021 deaths
American emigrants to Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party politicians
Antigua and Barbuda male long jumpers
Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games
Lester
Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. Notable people and characters with the name include:
People
Given name
* Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic
* Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from Wisc ...
Children of national leaders
Finance ministers of Antigua and Barbuda
Foreign ministers of Antigua and Barbuda
Leaders of political parties
Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games
Members of Gray's Inn
Members of the Senate (Antigua and Barbuda)
Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes
Pan American Games bronze medalists for the British West Indies
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Politicians from New York City
Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda
Recipients of the Order of the National Hero (Antigua and Barbuda)
Sportsperson-politicians
Track and field athletes from New York City