Sharlene Linette Cartwright-Robinson JP (born 4 September 1971) is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician and lawyer who served as the 4th

Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands The Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the political leader and head of government. The post of premier is the equivalent to chief minister or prime minister in other British Overseas Territories. It is the highest political level that c ...

from 20 December 2016 to 20 February 2021. She was the territory's first female premier. She was also the first woman to become first, deputy head, and then, head of the

People's Democratic Movement The People's Democratic Movement is a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded by Paias Wingti in 1985, after his faction left the Pangu Party. Wingti served as prime minister from 1985 to 1988 and from 1992 to 1994. He was later rep ...

(PDM).

Career

Cartwright-Robinson passed the bar in 1998. Her political career began the following year with an appointment to the Legislative Council, in which capacity she chaired a variety of committees, and served until 2003. She stood as a candidate in the 2003 election, but was defeated. After self-government in the Turks and Caicos Islands was suspended in 2009, she became a member of the Consultative Forum. She was removed from that position in May 2012 after

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ric Todd indicated that people planning to run in the November election should not continue to sit on the Advisory Council or the Consultative Forum. In July 2012, Cartwright-Robinson was named Deputy Leader of the PDM, under Leader

Oswald Skippings Oswald O'Neil Skippings (born 19 February 1953) is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician who served as the 2nd Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 19 June 1980 to 4 November 1980 and again from 3 March 1988 to 3 April 1991. Skip ...

. In the 2012 election, she ran as one of the eleven candidates for the five at-large seats in the All Island District, where she obtained the highest number of votes. Due to provisions in the new 2011

Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands The Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands, in its present form, was passed in 2011. 1962 When Jamaica became independent in 1962, the Turks and Caicos Islands, formerly under Jamaican administration, became a Crown colony in its own right. ...

, running for election required her to renounce her birth-right citizenship in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

. Following the general election, her party (the PDM) elected her the Party Leader. Cartwright-Robinson led her People's Democratic Movement to a victory in the December 2016 general election beating out two male candidates for the premiership. This ended the thirteen year ruling stretch of the Progressive National Party (PNP). She led the country during the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Turks and Caicos Islands The COVID-19 pandemic in the Turks and Caicos Islands is part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands on 2 ...

in 2020. In February 2021, Cartwright-Robinson lost her seat in the 2021 Turks and Caicos Islands general election where her party lost 9 seats in a 14-1 blowout defeat. Following this, she stepped down as leader of the party.

Personal life

Cartwright-Robinson was born in

on 4 September 1971 to Turks and Caicos Islands parents who were working there and was issued with a

Bahamian passport The Bahamian passport is issued to citizens of the Bahamas for international travel. As of March 2019, Bahamian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 154 countries and territories, ranking the Bahamian passport 26th in terms of trav ...

. Her family returned to the Turks and Caicos Islands when she was six. Cartwright-Robinson is

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

. She has served as Youth Director of the Turks and Caicos Islands Baptist Union since 2006. In 2012, she also became president of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship's Youth Department, making her '' ex officio'' a member of the CBF executive board as well as a vice president of the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

Youth Committee. She is also an active member of the

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizati ...

Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright-Robinson, Sharlene 1971 births Living people Members of the Turks and Caicos Islands House of Assembly People's Democratic Movement (Turks and Caicos Islands) politicians Premiers of the Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands Christians Turks and Caicos Islands lawyers Turks and Caicos Islands women in politics Women heads of government of non-sovereign entities

Career

Personal life

See also

References