Ins & Outs of Barbados 2020

INS& 22  MEET A BAJAN During this homecoming year of We Gatherin’ Barbados 2020, it seems entirely appropriate to feature our Prime Minister, the Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, QC, MP, as a ‘Meet a Bajan’, since it was her vision and call-to-action that first instigated this special event for all Bajans and friends of Barbados at home and abroad. So, here is a brief glimpse into her career. Born in Barbados on October 01, 1965, the Prime Minister grew up under the influence of her grandfather, Ernest Deighton Mottley, who had been the first Mayor of Bridgetown and represented the city in the House of Assembly; and her father, Elliott Deighton Mottley, who also sat in the House of Assembly and served as Barbados Consul-General in New York. Having started her education at the Merrivale Private School in Barbados, when her father temporarily moved the family to New York, Mia Mottley studied at the United Nations International School, prior to returning home to attend her ‘alma mater’ Queen’s College. After completing her secondary education, in keeping with the family tradition of entering the legal profession, Ms. Mottley elected to study law at the London School of Economics, thereby also following the tried and tested path of many politicians before her. From the time she was elected Member of Parliament for St. Michael North East in 1994, at the tender age of 29, Mia Mottley held several important ministerial portfolios, including Education, Youth Affairs and Culture; Home Affairs; and Economic Affairs and Development. Along the way, she has been widely credited for the visionary quality of her leadership. When the Hon. Mia Mottley led the Barbados Labour Party to an unprecedented thirty seats to zero victory in the General Elections of May 2018, she earned herself a place in history as the first female Prime Minister of Barbados. But that significant accolade is just the latest in a series of ‘firsts’ in her public life, which include being the first female leader of the Barbados Labour Party, the first female leader of the Opposition, the first female Attorney General and, for good measure, the country’s youngest ever Queen’s Counsel. Given the extraordinary range of her experience, capabilities and successes, it is tempting to surmise that the childhood Mia Mottley must have been ‘a Prime Minister waiting to happen’. And indeed she was. The Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, QC, MP, Prime Minister of Barbados Meet Our Prime Minister By Keith Miller The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, delivers the Raúl Prebisch Lecture at the United Nations in Geneva