Mia Mottley

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Leader of the Opposition
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 February 2008-
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
Governor General	Clifford Husbands
Deputy	Dale Marshall
Preceded by	Owen Seymour Arthur

Born	1 October 1965 (1965-10-01) (age 42)
Political party	Barbados Labour Party
Profession	Lawyer

Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C., M.P, Bachelor of Laws (born 1st October 1965) is the Leader of the Barbados Labour Party and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.

The Hon. Mia Mottley was elected to Parliament for the first time in September 1994. One of the youngest persons ever to be assigned a ministerial portfolio at age 29, she was appointed to the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture. During her tenure she co-authored an acclaimed White Paper on Education that draws the link between better education and job fulfillment. In 1996 and again in 1997 she served as Chairman of the Caricom Standing Committee of Ministers of Education; thereafter being named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs and Development in a February 2006 cabinet reshuffle.She is also credited with being the visionary behind the Education Sector Enhancement Programme, popularly know as Edutech, which aims to increase the number of young people contributing to the island’s sustainable social and economic development. This revolutionary programme involves the widespread use of information and communication technologies to assist in improving the quality of the teaching/learning process.

In Youth Affairs, Mia directed the successful establishment of the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme and a National Youth Development Programme. Her work in Culture has been outstanding. Born on October 1st 1965, Mia was appointed Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs in 2001 and is the first female to hold this position. She is also the youngest ever Queen’s Council in Barbados.In addition to being a Member of the Privy Council of Barbados, she is a member of the National Security Council and the Barbados Defence Board.

She was elected General Secretary of the Barbados Labour Party in 1996.

Educated at Merrivale Private School, The United Nations International School, and Queens College, she subsequently obtained a law degree from the London School of Economics. She is a lawyer by profession having been called to the Bar of England and Wales and in Barbados.

She has served the country and the community with enthusiastic vision and dynamism and has displayed energy and compassion in her successful attempts to improve the quality of life in her constituency.

Mia sees housing and the eradication of poverty to be among the most pressing needs in her constituency and in the country generally. Her aim is for her constituents to own their own houses and land, have a sustainable living and be self-reliant, while at the same time being sensitive to their obligations towards family and citizenry.

She joined the Barbados Labour Party because of its philosophy of social justice, human rights and a better life for all Barbadians. She believes that her constituents should vote for her because of her exemplary record as their representative and she is again offering herself as a candidate to continue the work she has started for her constituents to enjoy a high quality of life.

Following the Barbados Labour Party's defeat in the election held on January 15, 2008 and Prime Minister Owen Arthur's laying down the mantel as party leader, she was chosen B.L.P party leader on January 19, 2008. She is the first woman to lead the party, as well as the country's first female Opposition Leader.Mia Mottley was sworn in as Opposition Leader on 7th February,2008;since her inauguration as Leader of the Opposition she has promised the people of Barbados that the Barbados Labour Party will be a strong and unified Opposition who will fight for the rights of all citizens in the country.

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