Denzil Llewellyn Douglas (born 14 January 1953) is a Saint Kittitian and Nevisian politician and the longest-serving
prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, in office from 1995 to 2015. He was the leader of the
Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party
The Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), also known simply as Labour, is a centre-left political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is currently in government in the country after winning six of the eleven contested seats in the 2022 gene ...
(SKNLP) from 1989 to 2021. He was the
leader of the parliamentary opposition from 1989 to 1995 and from 2015 to 2022.
Biography
Early life and pre-political career
Born on 14 January 1953
[
] in the village of
St. Pauls, Douglas studied medicine as a young man. He obtained a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in 1977 and a
Degree in Medicine in 1984 from the
University of the West Indies at Cave Hill
University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system.
It was the third campus to be established by the UWI System, fol ...
. In 1986 he established a private medical practice as a family physician and served as President of the St. Kitts-Nevis Medical Association in the late 1980s.
Political life
Douglas was elected
M.P. for St. Christopher (No.6) ward (
Newton Ground, St. Paul's,
Dieppe Bay,
Saddlers, and Harris) in the
National Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis
The National Assembly and the Monarchy of Saint Kitts and Nevis, King of Saint Christopher and Nevis jointly make up the legislature of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Composition of the National Assembly
The assembly has 14 or 15 members (depending upo ...
in 1989 and appointed
leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
. That year he was also elected leader of the
Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party
The Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), also known simply as Labour, is a centre-left political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is currently in government in the country after winning six of the eleven contested seats in the 2022 gene ...
after some internal wrangling for the leadership between himself and the then incumbent political leader Sir
Lee L Moore. This internal feud surfaced after Sir Lee L Moore had lost his seat in constituency number 4.
He restructured the party in preparation for its
1995 electoral victory. He was appointed
Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1995, re-appointed Prime Minister in March 2000 and again in October 2004 after the Labour Party won a third term with seven of the eight seats on St. Kitts. The Labour Party won its fourth consecutive term in office on 25 January 2010, winning six of the eight seats on St Kitts in the eleven-member National Assembly.
In 2011, Douglas was responsible for the OLPC (One Laptop per Child) program, which provided 2,000 free laptops per year from Taiwan to high school students.
Political Controversies
In 2014, the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrori ...
(FinCEN) issued an Advisory to alert financial institutions that certain foreign individuals were abusing the
Citizenship by Investment program sponsored by the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) led by the Denzil Douglas Administration to obtain SKN passports for the purpose of engaging in illicit financial activity. As a result of these lax controls, illicit actors, including individuals intending to use the secondary citizenship to evade sanctions, can obtain an SKN passport with relative ease. These events led to the United States revoking his visa.
Detainment at Gatwick Airport London
On 16 November 2019,
The Mail on Sunday
''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...
reported Douglas was detained at
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...
by the UK's
Border Force
Border Force (BF) is a British law enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from i ...
. The Officers seized the equivalent of more than £70,000 – in sterling, US dollars and eastern Caribbean dollars – from him when he could not explain why he was attempting to leave the country with the cash. It was said he was the subject of a probe by the
National Crime Agency
The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a Law enforcement agency#natlea, national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's lead agency against organised crime; Human trafficking, human, Arms trafficking, weapon and Illegal drug t ...
.
Appeal court ruled that Denzil Douglas must vacate seat in Parliament
On Thursday 12 March 2020, the Government of St Kitts-Nevis Information Services SKNIS reported in a Press release that The
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is a superior court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and N ...
(ECSC) of Appeal in Castries, Saint Lucia, in a judgment handed down on, March 12, 2020, ruled that Dr. Denzil Douglas, Leader of the St. Kitts and Nevis Opposition Labour Party and Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher Six, must VACATE his seat in the National Assembly with immediate effect over the issue of a Dominican diplomatic passport that had been granted to him by Dominica. Chief Justice, the Hon. Dame
Janice M. Pereira, made the following conclusion:
"The cumulative effect of my conclusions is that Dr. Douglas, by his application for, receipt and use of a Dominican diplomatic passport, placed him in clear breach of section 28(1)(a) of the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
. As a matter of law, the consequence in the terms of section 33(3)(c) follows. That consequence is that, Dr. Douglas is required to vacate his seat in the National Assembly in Saint Christopher and Nevis,”
Post-premiership
After losing the 2015 general election he remained active in politics as
leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
. Prior to the
2020 general election, Douglas had not put in place a succession plan for new leadership of the SKNLP despite calls to resign.
In 2021, Douglas decided to step down as leader of the SKNLP, while remaining the parliamentary
leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
. At the national SKNLP convention on 28 November 2021, party chairman
Terrance Drew
Terrance Michael Drew (born 22 November 1976) is a Kittitian medical doctor and politician who is the fourth and current prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, having been elected to the National Assembly in the 5 August 2022 general electio ...
was elected as his successor.
On 15 August 2022 he joined the
Drew ministry as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Honours
*
**Appointed to
Her Majesty’s Privy Council, with the prefix "Right Honourable" added to his name (2011)
*:
**

Special Grand Cordon of the
Order of Propitious Clouds (2011)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Denzil
1953 births
Living people
Members of the National Assembly (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
People from Saint Paul Capisterre Parish
Prime ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Ministers of finance of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party politicians
University of the West Indies alumni
Foreign ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis