Mark Jefferson Golding (born 19 July 1965) is a Jamaican politician who has been Opposition Leader of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and President of the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) (PNP; ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Jamaica, political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by Norman Manley, Norman Washington Manley who served as party president unti ...

since November 2020, following the 2020 general election. Previously an attorney and investment banker, he was a member of the

Senate of Jamaica The Parliament of Jamaica () is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. Officially, they are known as the Houses of Parliament. It consists of three elements: The Crown (represented by the Governor-General), the appointed Senate ...

from 2007 to 2017 and served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 2012 to 2016. He was elected as Member of Parliament for South St Andrew in 2017 and is a member of the People's National Party (PNP). On 7 November 2020, Mark Golding was elected as the 6th president of the PNP after polling 1740 delegate votes to defeat

Lisa Hanna Lisa Rene Shanti Hanna (born 20 August 1975) is a Jamaican politician and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 1993, becoming the third Jamaican to win the title. A member of the opposition People's National Party, Hanna currently serves as ...

who polled 1440 in an election that saw 96% voter turnout amongst delegates in the

2020 People's National Party leadership election The 2020 People's National Party (PNP) leadership election was triggered after Peter Phillips announced his intention to resign as Leader of the People's National Party following the party's defeat at the 2020 general election. It was held on ...

Early life

Golding was born in 1965 in Mona,

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

at the

University Hospital of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

. He is the younger of two children born to Patricia () and Sir John Golding. His mother was born in England, the daughter of a Jamaican doctor from

Westmoreland Parish Westmoreland () is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, on the south side of the island. It lies south of Hanover, southwest of Saint James, and northwest of Saint Elizabeth, in the county of Cornwall. The chief town and capital is Savanna-la- ...

and his Australian wife. His father was born in England and moved to Jamaica in 1953 where he became a pioneering orthopaedic surgeon and rehabilitation physician. His paternal grandparents were

Lithuanian Jew {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Litvaks , image = , caption = , poptime = , region1 = {{flag, Lithuania , pop1 = 2,800 , region2 = {{flag, South Africa , pop2 = 6 ...

s who arrived in the United Kingdom in the 1890s. Golding later recalled that he "grew up on the university campus in the 1970s, at a time when progressive thinking, and the anti-apartheid movement were powerful currents around me and I have always had a progressive orientation as a youth coming up." Golding was educated at Mona Prep, Campion College, Jamaica,

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

Business

Golding was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1990 and joined the Hart Muirhead Fatta Law firm. In 1993, He co-founded Dehring Bunting & Golding Limited, along with Peter Bunting and Chris Dehring; Dehring, Bunting & Golding was Jamaica's first private sector investment bank which became one of the leading financial institutions in the Caribbean. Over the course of his career, Golding has served as a director at GraceKennedy Limited Caribbean Information, Credit Rating Services Limited, and the Bank of Nova Scotia under Scotia Limited. Golding is also the chairman of the Mona Rehabilitation Foundation and of Arnett Gardens F.C. In 2010, Golding co-founded Proven Investment Limited, a publicly listed investment company.

Political

Golding was appointed to the Senate of Jamaica in 2007 by then-prime minister

Portia Simpson-Miller Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller (born 12 December 1945) is a Jamaican politician who served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2016. She was leader of the People's National Party from 2005 to 2017 and Leader of the O ...

, who named him as the Minister of Justice after the PNP electoral victory in the

2011 Jamaican general election General elections were held in Jamaica on 29 December 2011. The elections were contested mainly between the nation's two major political parties, the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), led by Andrew Holness, and the Portia Simpson-Miller-led ...

. He was also named Chairman of the Legislation Committee of Cabinet. During this 4-year term, 121 Acts of Parliament were passed. Golding was behind the island-wide decriminalization of marijuana. In 2017, Golding was elected to Parliament as the representative for South St. Andrew. After the PNP's loss in the

2020 Jamaican general election General elections were held in Jamaica on Thursday, 3 September 2020

, Golding announced his intention to run for leadership of the party. Golding won the Presidency of the PNP on November 7, 2020, defeating

. He received praise for the upstanding nature of his campaign.

Personal life

Golding married his wife, Sandra, in 1990. They have three children. He was a musician throughout his time at Oxford University.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Golding, Mark 1967 births Members of the Senate of Jamaica Alumni of University College London Living people Justice ministers of Jamaica 20th-century Jamaican lawyers Jamaican bankers Investment bankers 21st-century Jamaican lawyers Members of the 13th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 14th Parliament of Jamaica People educated at Campion College Jamaican people of English descent Jamaican people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jamaican people of Australian descent People educated at Marlborough College