Keith Claudius Mitchell (born 12 November 1946) is a Grenadian politician who served as

Prime Minister of Grenada This is a list of heads of government of Grenada, from the establishment of the office of Chief Minister in 1960 to the present day. The Prime Minister appoints the Cabinet of Grenada. Heads of government before the 1974 independence Chief m ...

from 1995 to 2008 and from 2013 to 2022. He is the longest-serving Prime Minister in Grenadian history, holding the office for more than 22 years. He is currently leader of the New National Party (NNP) and has been the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the House of Representatives of Grenada from 2008 to 2013, and again since 2022.

Education and personal life

Keith Claudius Mitchell was born in the community of Brizan, Saint George's. Mitchell graduated from the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in mathematics and chemistry in 1971. He gained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

in 1975 and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in mathematics and statistics from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...

in 1979. He then worked as a statistician at Applied Management Sciences, providing statistical support to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 1984, Mitchell gave up his professional activities to return home to Grenada after the U.S. invasion.

Cricket career

Mitchell was also 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 st ...

er, a

spin bowler Spin bowling is a bowling technique in cricket, in which the ball is delivered slowly but with the potential to deviate sharply after bouncing. The bowler is referred to as a spinner. Purpose The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ...

, who captained the Grenada team in 1973. He has since been a prominent cricket administrator in the West Indies alongside his political career.

Political career

In the December 1984 general election, he was elected to a seat 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 ...

from St. George North West constituency and he has held the seat in each subsequent election. Mitchell was elected as leader of the NNP in January 1989,''Political Parties of the World'' (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 265."Jul 1989 - Grenada", ''Keesing's Record of World Events'', volume 35, July 1989, Grenada, page 36,812. defeating Prime Minister

Herbert Blaize Herbert Augustus Blaize PC (26 February 1918 – 19 December 1989) was a Grenadian politician and leader of the Grenada National Party. When Grenada was still a British Crown Colony he served as the first Chief Minister from 1960 to 1961, a ...

. Blaize then dismissed Mitchell from his position as Minister of Works and Communications on 21 July 1989. After the NNP was victorious in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on 20 June 1995, winning eight out of 15 seats in the House of Representatives, Mitchell took office as Prime Minister, along with his Cabinet, on 22 June. Under Mitchell's leadership, the party won all 15 seats in the early election held in January 1999, and the NNP narrowly won a third term in power in the November 2003 election, reduced to a one-seat parliamentary majority. Mitchell hold the additional portfolio of

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", ...

for three periods. The New National Party was defeated in the

held on 8 July 2008 by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), winning only four seats against 11 for the NDC. Mitchell himself was re-elected to his seat from St. George North West. NDC leader

Tillman Thomas Tillman Joseph Thomas (born 13 June 1947"Grenada has a new Prime Minister" ...

succeeded Mitchell as Prime Minister on 9 July. Mitchell said that the people voted for change and congratulated Thomas. Following the election, he continued as NNP leader and was sworn in as Leader of the Opposition on 16 July 2008. In the February 2013 general election, the NNP won all 15 parliamentary seats. After this resounding victory, Mitchell was sworn in as Prime Minister on 20 February 2013. Looking ahead to the next election, Mitchell predicted that his party could win all 15 seats in parliament for a third time. Mitchell and his New National Party created history by retaining all 15 seats in the Grenada General Election of 13 March 2018. It is the first time any political party regionally or otherwise has achieved such a feat. Mitchell held the additional portfolio of

until 2020. In June 2022, Mitchell called a snap general election. His New National Party was defeated by the National Democratic Congress under

Dickon Mitchell Dickon Amiss Thomas Mitchell is a Grenadian politician and attorney serving as the ninth prime minister of Grenada since 24 June 2022 and the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) since 2021. He led his party to victory in the 2022 ...

, winning just 6 seats to the NDC's 9. Mitchell subsequently became

in the House of Representatives of Grenada.

Foreign policy

In 1997, Mitchell became the first prime minister since Maurice Bishop to visit

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

, signing an economic cooperation agreement. He re-established relations with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 2005. Mitchell approved 1996 plans by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

to build a base on Petite Martinique. He allowed medical visits from USNS Comfort (T-AH-20).

References

External links

"Biography: Keith Claudius Mitchell"
Official website of the government of Grenada.
Profile
at BBC
Interview
with ''Global: the international briefing'' (2015) , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Keith 1946 births American University alumni Grenadian Roman Catholics Living people Members of the House of Representatives of Grenada Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom New National Party (Grenada) politicians People from St. George's, Grenada Former United States citizens Prime Ministers of Grenada Republicanism in Grenada Finance ministers of Grenada Foreign ministers of Grenada University of the West Indies alumni 20th-century Grenadian politicians 21st-century Grenadian politicians