Stuart Richard Young is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and attorney, representing the

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...

(PNM). He has served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in 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 ...

for Port-of-Spain North/St. Ann's West since the 2015 general election. He is the current Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. Young has previously held the posts of Minister of National Security, Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and Minister of Communications.

Early life

Young was the oldest of three children in

Chinese Trinidadian Chinese Trinidadians and Tobagonians (sometimes Sino-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Chinese Trinbagonians) are Trinidadians and Tobagonians of Han Chinese ancestry. The group includes people from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Overseas Chinese w ...

family. He attended St Mary's College in

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

, where he was head altar boy. He considered becoming a priest or accountant but ultimately decided to pursue law at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

in England. He was called to the

Bar of England and Wales Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

as a

junior barrister A junior barrister is a barrister who has not yet attained the rank of King's Counsel. Although the term is archaic and not commonly used, junior barristers (or "juniors") can also be referred to as utter barristers derived from "outer barristers ...

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 Wale ...

in July 1997. The following year, he received 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 the

Hugh Wooding Law School The Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) is a law school in Trinidad and Tobago. History Named for Trinidad and Tobago jurist and politician Hugh Wooding, HWLS is one of three law schools empowered by the (Caribbean) Council of Legal Education to award ...

and was admitted to the bar in Trinidad and Tobago. He was also admitted to the bar of the

Commonwealth of Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It ...

and

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

. Young has appeared as counsel in various commissions of enquiry, including the Piarco Commission of Enquiry, the Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector and the Commission of Enquiry into the Hindu Credit Union and

CL Financial CL Financial was the largest privately held conglomerate in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest privately held corporations in the entire Caribbean, before the company encountered a major liquidity crisis and subsequent bailout in 2009. ...

. He served on the American Chamber of Commerce legislative committee, as a board member of FUNDAID, and as a council member of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago. He is the chair and a founding member of Synergy Entertainment Network Limited and W.I. Sports Limited''.''

Political career

Young began his political career on 18 March 2014, serving as a temporary Opposition Senator during the 4th Session of the 10th Republican Parliament. The following year, he was successfully chosen as the

's (PNM) candidate to be the

in the

for

Port-of-Spain North/St Ann's West Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

. He was elected into office on 7 September 2015. Following the election, he was appointed as a Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs on 11 September 2015, a post that he held until 5 August 2018. On 17 March 2016, he was assigned to the additional position of Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. From 7 June 2018 until 20 July 2019, he was Minister of Communications and from 6 August 2018 until 18 April 2021, he was Minister of National Security. He has been described as the "Minister of Everything". Young also serves as chairman of the Finance & General Purposes Committee of the Cabinet (F&GP), as well as being a member of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

(NSC), the Energy Standing Committee, the Human Advisory Committee, the Committee of Privileges and the Statutory Instruments Committee. Young was re-elected to office during the 2020 general election on 10 August 2020. He was appointed to the joint select committee for Energy Affairs and the Cannabis Control Bill, 2020 on 9 November 2020. He was also a co-chair of the Government Empowered Negotiating Team for energy. On 19 April 2021, he was re-assigned as Minister of Energy and Energy Industries to take over from

Franklin Khan Franklin Khan (died 17 April 2021) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician who served as Member of Parliament for Ortoire- Mayaro and Chairman of the ruling People's National Movement. In 2005, Khan was indicted on corruption charges, all of which ...

, who died in office. In December 2022, Young was elected as the Chairman of the People's National Movement (PNM).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Stuart Richard 1975 births Living people Members of the House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago) People's National Movement politicians 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago politicians Alumni of the University of Nottingham Energy ministers of Trinidad and Tobago