Portia Simpson Miller

Portia Simpson Miller served as prime minister of Jamaica from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from January 2012 to March 2016, the first female prime minister of that country.

Simpson Miller was born Dec. 12, 1945, in Wood Hall, Saint Catherine parish, Jamaica. She earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Union Institute & University in 1997.

In 1974, Simpson Miller was elected to the city council of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation, and in 1976 she was elected to Jamaica’s House of Representatives. She was reelected in 1980, sat out the 1983 election in protest with the rest of her party, and then won her seat back in the 1989 election. She served in several positions during her time in Parliament, including Minister of Labour and Welfare; Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sports; Minister of Tourism and Sports from; and Minister of Local Government and Sport. She was leader of the PNP from 2005 to 2017 and leader of the Opposition twice, from 2007 to 2012 and from 2016 to 2017. She retired from Parliament in 2017.

Murray, Lorraine (n.d.). Portia Simpson Miller. In Britannica. Retrieved on April 3, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Portia-Simpson-Miller.