From Jamaica Wiki
Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller, Former Jamaican Prime Minister (March 2006 to September 2007), presently the opposition Leader, was born in 12 December, 1945 in Wood Hall, St. Catherine Parish.
She is the leader of the People’s National party, Jamaica. She became the first female to become Jamaican Prime minister when she assumed office on 30 March 2006, and also she became the third to be so in the Anglophone Caribbean. But her choosing as Patterson’s successor was unique in itself; she had won only 47% of the delegates’ votes to become the successor ahead of Dr. Peter Phillips. She became the first PNP leader to do so with less than half majority.
Nevertheless, Portia Simpson-Miller was not new to administration and politics way of things, as she served as Minister of local government and sports since October 2002. During the period of 1989 – 1993 she assumed office as the Minister of Labor, Sports and Welfare. This is after the boycotting of 1983 elections by the People’s National Party and her re-entry to the parliament in 1989 for south west St.Andrew. She was holding the position of ministry right through the years from 1989 till now. But not a clear career was associated with her terms office, filled with criticism and allegations of mismanagement and appeals of corruption. She was labor and Welfare Minister from 1993 – 1995, and from 1995 – 2000 she was serving as the labor, sports and social security Minister. She had her term as Tourism and Sports from February 2000 to October 2002.
The impact of the people’s feelings about mismanagement and corruption concerning the ministerial portfolios of hers came to be felt when she was campaigning for presidential elections. She was indeed the Vice President of people’s National Party from 1978 – 2006. When she assumed office as presidential successor, she had allotted ministry position of defense to herself, while forming her first cabinet.
Her studies too were more relevant to politics with her bachelor’s degree in Public Administration nothing but confirming her interest in politics right from her early days. She has also been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Human Letters by Union Institute (from where she got her B. A degree). It was a narrow margin by which the People’s National party lost the general elections in 2007. Her party had secured 27 seats only to be surpassed by 6 seats by the Jamaican’s Labor Party (33 seats).
It was quite a difficult situation when to be overthrown after over 15 years in power. True to this view, Portia initially refused to accept defeat, claiming that irregularities had indeed led to such a result. She had a strong belief that a recount will probably change the results. But the Organization of American States declared that the election had been taking place freely and fairly. On September 5 she conceded her defeat and Bruce Golding of Jamaican labor’s Party became the new Prime Minister.
Portia Simpson-Miller is married to Former CEO of Cable & Wireless Jamaica, Errald Miller. She also has invested on her Jamaican Order of the Nation, giving ‘the most honorable’ style to her and her husband.
