Kamla Persad-Bissessar

The Honourable
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
SC MP
Persad-Bissessar in 2013
7th Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 September 2015
President
Prime MinisterKeith Rowley
Preceded byKeith Rowley
Other terms
In office
25 February 2010 – 25 May 2010
PresidentGeorge Maxwell Richards
Prime MinisterPatrick Manning
Preceded byBasdeo Panday
Succeeded byKeith Rowley
In office
26 April 2006 – 8 November 2007
PresidentGeorge Maxwell Richards
Prime MinisterPatrick Manning
Preceded byBasdeo Panday
Succeeded byBasdeo Panday
6th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
In office
26 May 2010 – 9 September 2015
President
  • George Maxwell Richards
  • Anthony Carmona
Preceded byPatrick Manning
Succeeded byKeith Rowley
4th Political Leader of the United National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 January 2010
Preceded byBasdeo Panday
Ministerial offices
9th & 11th Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago
In office
5 October 2001 – 24 December 2001
Prime MinisterBasdeo Panday
Preceded byRamesh Maharaj
Succeeded byGlenda Morean
In office
27 November 1995 – 2 February 1996
Prime MinisterBasdeo Panday
Preceded byKeith Sobion
Succeeded byRamesh Maharaj
Minister of Education of Trinidad and Tobago
In office
22 October 1999 – 4 October 2001
Prime MinisterBasdeo Panday
Preceded byAdesh Nanan
Succeeded byGanga Singh
Parliamentary offices
Member of Parliament
for Siparia
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 November 1995
Preceded bySahid Hosein
Majority10,141 (51.6%)
Opposition Member of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago
In office
1 November 1994 – 6 October 1995
International offices
Commonwealth Chair-in-Office
In office
26 May 2010 – 28 October 2011
Secretary-GeneralKamalesh Sharma
Preceded byPatrick Manning
Succeeded byJulia Gillard
Chairwoman of the Caribbean Community
In office
1 July 2013[1] – 31 December 2013[2]
Preceded byMichel Martelly[3]
Succeeded byRalph Gonsalves[4]
Local government offices
Personal details
Born
Kamla Susheila Persad[5]

(1952-04-22) 22 April 1952 (age 72)
Siparia, Colony of Trinidad and Tobago, British Empire
Political partyUnited National Congress (1994–present)
Other political
affiliations		National Alliance for Reconstruction (1987–1994)
Spouse
Gregory Bissessar
​
(m. 1971)​
Children1
Education
Alma mater
Occupation
AwardsPravasi Bharatiya Samman (2012)

The Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC MP (pronounced [kəmlɑː prəsɑːd̪-biseːsər] (listenⓘ); born Kamla Susheila Persad,[5] 22 April 1952),[6] often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, political leader of the United National Congress (UNC) political party, and was the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 26 May 2010 until 9 September 2015. She was the country's first female prime minister, attorney general, and Leader of the Opposition,[7][8] the first woman to chair the Commonwealth of Nations[9] and the first woman of Indian origin to be a prime minister of a country outside of India and the wider subcontinent.

Persad-Bissessar became political leader of the UNC in 2010.[10] In 2011, Persad-Bissessar was named the thirteenth most influential female leader around the world by Time magazine.[11]

Persad-Bissessar held the premiership from May 2010 to September 2015, where she was also the leader of the People's Partnership - a political coalition of centre and center-left wing parties that governed the country. Since September 2015, she has been the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago. After the coalition disbanded in September 2015, following their electoral defeat, Persad-Bissessar attempted to regain power in the August 2020 elections; however, the UNC only managed to increase their seat count by 2 and the popular vote by 20,000. Nonetheless, the PNM under the leadership of Keith Rowley (who later became Trinidad and Tobago's seventh Prime Minister) maintained power and was re-elected, however, with a smaller majority.

  1. ^ "PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar, New Chair of CARICOM, Opens Conference of Heads of Government". 3 July 2013.
  2. ^ "End of Year Message by the Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)". 31 December 2013.
  3. ^ "PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar, New Chair of CARICOM, Opens Conference of Heads of Government". 3 July 2013.
  4. ^ "PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar, New Chair of CARICOM, Opens Conference of Heads of Government". 3 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b "A LEADER'S JOURNEY, Part 2: The Young Kamla Susheila Persad". 9 September 2021.
  6. ^ Sookraj, Radhica (26 May 2010). "Kamla came from humble beginnings". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) PNM lose to Peoples Partnership in Trinidad elections 2010]. Ttgapers.com 24 May 2010.
  8. ^ Skard, Torild (2014) "Kamla Persad-Bissessar" in Women of power – half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press ISBN 978-1-44731-578-0, pp. 271–3
  9. ^ "Kamla makes call for keener focus on women". The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2020.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ http://www.cananews.net/news/131/ARTICLE/49722/2010-05-25.html [permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Top Female Leaders Around the World". Time. Retrieved 25 March 2019.