Peter Phillips OJ (born 28 December 1949) is a Jamaican politician who has served as the MP for Saint Andrew East Central since 1993. Phillips is the former 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 ...

and former leader of the Opposition in

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 ...

. He served as Minister of Finance and Planning of Jamaica from 2012 to 2016. He is member of parliament for East Central St Andrew.

Early life

Phillips was born in Kingston to

Mico Teachers' College The Mico University College is an institution of higher education in Kingston, Jamaica. History The Mico was founded in 1835 through the Jane Mico, Lady Mico Charity, one of four teacher training institutions established during this period in ...

lecturer Aubrey Sylvester Phillips and civil servant Thelma Limonius Phillips. Aubrey was a graduate of Mico, where he had roomed with

Howard Cooke Sir Howard Felix Hanlan Cooke (13 November 1915 – 11 July 2014) served as the fourth Governor-General of Jamaica from 1 August 1991 to 15 February 2006. Early life Cooke was born on 13 November 1915, in Goodwill, St. James, Jamaica, the ...

, who would later become

Governor-General of Jamaica The governor-general of Jamaica () is the representative of the Jamaican monarch, currently King Charles III, in Jamaica. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister of Jamaica. The functions ...

. He spent some of his infancy in

Manchester Parish The Parish of Manchester () is a Parishes of Jamaica, parish located in west-central Jamaica, in the county of Middlesex. Its Capital (political), capital, Mandeville, Jamaica, Mandeville, is a major business centre. Its St. Paul of the Cross ...

where both his mother's and father's parents lived. The family returned to Kingston and he started pre-school there before moving to

Saint Ann Parish Saint Ann () is the largest parish in Jamaica. It is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called "the Garden Parish of Jamaica" on ...

where his father took up a new job as principal of Moneague Teachers' College. Phillips lived in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

between ages six and nine while his father studied for a PhD there, and then returned to

, where he attended Jamaica College as a boarder. Phillips holds a bachelor's degree in Economics, a Master's in Government (from The University of the West Indies), and a Doctorate in Sociology from the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

Binghamton Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the con ...

(USA).

Political career

Phillips first entered parliament as an appointed senator after the

won the 1989 general elections. He served as Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister until 1991, when he was appointed PNP General Secretary and Minister of Special Projects in the Office of the Prime Minister. He remained in post until 1994, when he was elected to parliament as the member for Saint Andrew East Central. He served as MP for that constituency for the duration of his political career. Phillips served as minister of health under Prime Minister

P.J. Patterson Percival Noel James Patterson, (born 10 April 1935), popularly known as P.J. Patterson, is a Jamaican people, Jamaican former politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006. He served in office for 14 years, mak ...

from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, Patterson appointed him minister of transport and works. He was elected a vice president of the PNP in 1999, serving with

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 ...

. He was subsequently appointed minister of national security. Phillips twice unsuccessfully ran for President of the PNP in 2006 and 2008. He lost ministerial office when the PNP lost the 2007 elections. However, after the party won the 2011 elections, he was appointed Minister of Finance and Public Service. Simpson-Miller also named him

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

in an apparent attempt at party unity.

Party leader

The PNP lost the

2016 elections Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 April 2016 Djibouti * 2016 Djiboutian presidential ...

, after which Simpson Miller stood down as leader and Phillips won the subsequent leadership election in 2017. In 2019 he was challenged for the leadership by Peter Bunting, but was re-elected in the September vote. In the

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

, he was defeated by current Prime Minister,

Andrew Holness Andrew Michael Holness, (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has served as Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, having previously served from 2011 to 2012, and as Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) since 2011. Ho ...

, by a 49-14 seat margin. However, the turnout at this election was just 37%, probably affected by the coronavirus pandemic. He resigned as Opposition Leader and PNP President after the defeat, triggering the 2020 People's National Party leadership election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Peter 1949 births Living people 20th-century Jamaican politicians Deputy prime ministers of Jamaica Finance ministers of Jamaica Government ministers of Jamaica Members of the 10th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 11th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 12th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 13th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 14th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica Members of the Order of Jamaica Ministers of health of Jamaica People educated at Jamaica College People's National Party (Jamaica) politicians Politicians from Kingston, Jamaica