Hector John (born 22 October 1970) is a Dominican politician in the United Workers' Party (UWP). He was the Leader of the Opposition, from 2010 to 2014 and was the youngest ever to hold that position. He was first elected as a Representative to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

in 2009.

Biography

John was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, Dominica. He graduated from the St. Joseph Campus of Dominica Grammar School, and then earned a B.A. in Information Technology from

Monroe College Monroe College is a private for-profit college in New York City. It was founded in 1933 and has campuses in the Bronx, New Rochelle and Saint Lucia, with an extension site in Manhattan. The college is named after James Monroe, the fifth pre ...

in New York.. Hector worked in the banana industry for over 16 years, as a statistics officer and information technology assistant. He was active in the Salisbury community as a leader of several organizations, including the Salisbury Catholic Youth Movement and the Salisbury Improvement Committee. John entered politics as a candidate for the Salisbury parliamentary constituency in the 2009 general election, on the ticket of the opposition United Workers' Party. John won against the Labour Party candidate Bentley Royer on 18 December 2009, with 817 to 512 votes (60.7% to 38.1%); the overall results left the UWP with only three of the twenty-one seats. John subsequently joined the UWP boycott of the House of Assembly, in protest against alleged election irregularities. After John did not attend three consecutive sessions,

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

Alix Boyd Knights Alix Boyd Knights is a Dominican politician and attorney who was the Speaker of the House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnation ...

declared his and another UWP seat vacant in April, and a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was scheduled for 9 July 2010. John again ran and won against Royer for the Salisbury constituency in the by-election, with 772 votes to Royer's 415 (64.4% to 34.6%). John was sworn in as Leader of the Opposition on 19 July 2010..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Hector Members of the House of Assembly of Dominica 1970 births Living people Monroe College alumni United Workers' Party (Dominica) politicians People from Saint Joseph Parish, Dominica