Nikoli Edwards (born 16 October 1991) is a politician and political activist from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. On 11 January 2017 he was appointed as a temporary Independent member of the

Senate of Trinidad and Tobago The Senate of Trinidad and Tobago is the appointed upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, along with the President and House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago. The Senate currently sits at the Red House. The Sen ...

by former President

Anthony Carmona Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona (born 7 March 1953) is a Trinidadian politician who was the fifth President of Trinidad and Tobago, from 2013 to 2019. Previously he was a High Court Judge at the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago, and he served ...

. He launched a new political party called the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

on 16 June 2019. On the 11th of August 2020, Trinidad and Tobago held their General Elections where Edwards contested a seat, San Fernando West. His rivals were Attorney General

Faris Al-Rawi Faris Al-Rawi is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician. He was the former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 to 2022. He is also a Member of the House of Representatives for the constituency of San Fernando West. Early life ...

(PNM, seat holder) and Sean Sobers (UNC). Nikoli Edwards, interim leader of the Progressive party lost the general elections and San Fernando West was retained by current Member of Parliament and Attorney General

. Nikoli obtained 211 votes for the Progressive Party.https://www.ebctt.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Preliminary-Results-for-the-2020-Parliamentary-Elections.pdf

Life and early career

Edwards was born and raised in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. He spent the first 12 years of his life living along Independence Avenue, San Fernando, and then moved to Diamond Village. He is the first-born child of Tamara Edwards and Hassan Atwell. Edwards attended San Fernando Boy's R.C. School between 1995 and 2003 and then went on to San Fernando Secondary Comprehensive until 2008. He later pursued a certificate in Communication Studies at the University of the West Indies Open Campus between 2009 and 2012 and then moved on to the

University of the West Indies, St. Augustine The University of the West Indies at St. Augustine is a public research university in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. It is one of 5 general campuses in the University of the West Indies system, which are ranked 1st in the Caribbean. It is ra ...

, where he completed a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Theatre Arts with Honours in 2015. Edwards then began his postgraduate studies in the field of Mediation Studies at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Edwards was elected to the Commonwealth Youth Council in November 2015 and serves as Vice Chair for Policy, Advocacy and Projects. He is also founder and chair of the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Convention. He served as Faculty of Humanities and Education Representative of the University of the West Indies St. Augustine Guild of Students during the academic year 2014/2015 and then Secretary during the academic year 2015/2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Nikoli Living people 1991 births Members of the Senate (Trinidad and Tobago) Trinidad and Tobago activists University of the West Indies alumni Youth activists Trinidad and Tobago radio presenters People from San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago