Kausea Natano (born 5 July 1957) is a

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast ...

an politician who is serving as

Prime Minister of Tuvalu The prime minister of Tuvalu is the head of government of Tuvalu. According to Tuvalu's constitution, the prime minister must always be a member of the parliament, and is elected by parliament in a secret ballot. Because there are no political ...

, in office since 19 September 2019. He is also serving as an MP for

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of la ...

, having also served as the country's deputy prime minister and minister for communications in former prime minister

Willy Telavi Willy Telavi (born 28 January 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2010 to 2013. Telavi was first elected to parliament in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. He became prime minister on 24 December 2010 and the Tel ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Early life

Before entering politics, Natano was director of customs of Tuvalu, and also served as assistant secretary in the ministry of finance and economic planning.

Political career

Member of Parliament

Natano was first elected to the

Parliament of Tuvalu The Parliament of Tuvalu (called ''Fale i Fono'' in Tuvaluan, or ''Palamene o Tuvalu'') is the unicameral national legislature of Tuvalu. The place at which the parliament sits is called the ''Vaiaku maneapa''. The ''maneapa'' on each island is ...

in 2002. Before the 2006 election, Natano had been a member of the opposition, but with the changes in the parliament's membership, he had hopes of forming a new coalition of supporters. Natano was one of seven members re-elected in the 2006 election,Election Results Bring Changes
, Tuvalu News, 3 August 2006. Accessed 2008-09-25. in which he received 340 votes. Natano was appointed as the Minister for Public Utilities and Industries in Prime Minister

Apisai Ielemia Apisai Ielemia (19 August 1955 – 19 November 2018) was a Tuvaluan politician. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2006 to 2010, and was returned as a member of parliament in the 2010 Tuvaluan general election. He was re-electe ...

. Natano was re-elected in the 2015 general election and again in the 2019 general election.

Deputy Prime Minister (2010–2013)

Natano was re-elected to Parliament in the 2010 general election. He then stood for the premiership, and received seven votes from MPs, thus being narrowly defeated by

Maatia Toafa Maatia Toafa OBE (born 1 May 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician, representing Nanumea, who served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Tuvalu. He first served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2006, from the resignation of his predecessor, ...

, who received eight. In December 2010, Toafa's government was ousted in a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

, and

succeeded to the premiership. Natano was among those who supported Telavi, enabling his accession. Upon appointing his

on December 24, Telavi appointed Natano as Minister for Communications. He was also appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Following Prime Minister Telavi's removal by

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Sir

Iakoba Italeli Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli is a Tuvaluan politician who was the governor-general of Tuvalu from 16 April 2010, until 22 August 2019, when he resigned to contest in the 2019 general election. He is also a former attorney general of Tuvalu who ...

on 1 August 2013 in the context of a political crisis (Telavi had sought to govern without the support of Parliament), Natano and the rest of Cabinet were voted out of office a day later by Parliament, where the opposition now had a clear majority.

Premiership (2019–present)

Following the 2019 Tuvaluan general election, on 19 September 2019, the members of parliament elected Natano as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

with a 10–6 majority.

Personal life

He is married to Selepa Kausea Natano.