Theodore Brent Symonette (born 2 December 1954) is a Bahamian businessman and

Free National Movement The Free National Movement (abbreviated FNM) is a political party in The Bahamas formed in the early 1970s, led by Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Michael Pintard and his deputy Peter Turnquest. It dominated the ...

politician who was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for St. Anne's from 2007 to 2012 and 2017 to 2021. In his first term, he served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

Hubert Ingraham The Right Honourable Hubert Alexander Ingraham, PC (born 4 August 1947) is a Bahamian politician who was Prime Minister of the Bahamas from August 1992 to May 2002 and again from May 2007 to May 2012. He is a member of the Free National Move ...

and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In his second, he was the Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration from 2017 to 2019.

Early life

Symonette was born in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in ...

. He is the youngest son of

Sir Roland Symonette Sir Roland Theodore Symonette, NH (16 December 1898 – 13 March 1980) was a Bahamian politician and the first Premier of the Bahamas after self-government was achieved in 1964. He was leader of the United Bahamian Party (UBP), which some felt ...

(1898–1980), the first

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of the Bahamas and Lady Margaret Symonette ''née'' Frances. Symonette is also the half brother of Bobby Symonette, who served as Speaker of the House of Assembly. He studied law in London and is a member of the Bahamas Bar. Symonette is also an established real estate broker.

Career

Symonette was appointed to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

in 1987 by Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield and reappointed to the Senate in 1992 by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. Symonette was one of a handful of

white White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

Members of Parliament. Symonette served as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, Minister of Tourism and Chairman of the Airport Authority. As Chairman of the Hotel Corporation of the Bahamas, Symonette was instrumental in negotiations that resulted in bringing the Atlantis Hotel and affiliated resort properties to the Bahamas. Symonette was the first MP to hold the St Anne's constituency upon its creation in 2007. Following the FNM victory in the general election that year, Symonette was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ingraham's government on May 4. In January 2012, Symonette announced he would be resigning from politics and stood down at the 2012 general election. In 2016, his successor Hubert Chipman withdrew his name from consideration for the FNM nomination. Symonette changed his mind and, despite supporting Loretta Butler-Turner over Hubert Minnis in the FNM leadership contest, announced in early 2017 that he would reenter politics and was willing to work with Minnis. Symonette was sworn in as Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and immigration after regaining his seat in the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

. He served in that capacity until 1 July 2019 when he resigned. He confirmed that he would complete his tenure as MP and continue supporting the FNM in future elections, but would not seek reelection himself.Lindsay Thompson, "Bahamas Governor General challenges new government", Caribbean Net News, May 9, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Symonette, Brent 1954 births Living people People from Nassau, Bahamas Bahamian businesspeople Members of the Senate of the Bahamas Members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas Free National Movement politicians Children of national leaders Bahamian people of European descent Deputy Prime Ministers of the Bahamas Government ministers of the Bahamas Foreign ministers of the Bahamas Tourism ministers of the Bahamas 21st-century Bahamian politicians