Early life and education
He is the son of Grafton King; a renowned seaman, from Canouan, St.Vincent, and Marie Bernadette Satney, a seamstress from the village of Choiseul. He attended the Methodist Infant and Primary Schools for his early infant and primary schooling. Later, he was admitted to the Seventh Day Adventist Academy, where he continued his secondary education.Pre-politics career
Following the completion of his secondary education, King gained employment at the former St. Lucia Co-operative Bank Ltd (now 1st National Bank of St Lucia), where he served for two and a half years. He resigned in 1981 to accept an offer from the law firm of Floissac and Giraudy, where he served for seven years as Accountant, Trade Marks Clerk/Paralegal.Political career
In 1981 following the inaugural youth conference of the United Workers Party, King was elected the President of the party's youth arm. In 1982 after having actively participated in the election campaign of that year he was appointed a City Councilor of the Castries City Council and a board member of the St. Lucia Housing Authority, serving in both capacities for 5 years. During that period he also formed and became the founding President of the Rotaract Club of Saint Lucia, resigning in 1987 when he entered elective politics. Stephenson entered the political fray on the island when he was nominated as the candidate for the Castries North-East Constituency. In the first election on 6 April 1987 he got 2,411 votes against former prime minister Michael Pilgrim of the St Lucia Labour Party (1772 votes) and Oswald Augustin of the Progressive Labour Party (846 votes). In the second (snap) election on 30 April 1987 he polled 2,731 votes to Pilgrim's 2,549 votes and Augustin's 375 votes. He was then appointed as a Cabinet Minister, serving as the Minister for Community Development, Social Affairs, Youth, Sports, and local Government. He faced the electorate again in 1992 against lawyer Wilkie Larcher of the St Lucia Labour Party. He was able to register a bigger victory this time polling 3,511 to Larcher's 2,009. Following the election he was appointed to the Cabinet as the Minister for Health, Local Government, Information and Broadcasting. He would succumb in the tumultuous defeat of the United Worker's Party in the 1997 election where he was defeated by George Odlum on a St Lucia Labour Party ticket. The results of the election show Odlum overcoming the incumbent 3960 to 2604, the lowest number of votes King would ever gain in an election. He took a nine-year sabbatical from elective politics although remaining chairman of the party for most of this period. Following a short-lived struggle between himself and Cybelle Cenac for that right King received the endorsement of the United Workers Party in 2006 to contest the general elections as the candidate for Castries North. He would defeat the sitting Minister of Agriculture at the polls, which also saw his United Worker's Party return to office. The UWP won a majority of seats in the 2006 election, and a new government under Compton was sworn in on 19 December 2006. King was named Minister for Health and Labour Relations. Compton's illness in May 2007 prompted King to be named acting prime minister. In a cabinet reshuffle in early June 2007, he becameWithdrawal from the United Workers Party
King was at the center of media and public attention in June 2021 as rumors went on that he was going to leave the United Workers Party. King remained silent for weeks before breaking his silence in a dubbed "Address to the Nation"; this address was televised live on the Saint Lucia Choice Media Network and Liberty FM Radio. In his address King stated that he will not contest the 2021 general election on a UWP ticket but as an independent candidate. Prime Minister Allen Chastanet accepted King's resignation on 8 July 2021. King would be replaced the day after on 9 July 2021 by President of the Saint Lucia Senate Jeannine Giraudy-McIntyre. King went on to justify his withdrawal in his "Address to The Nation", stating: King would go on to receive public backlash. Mary Francis, an attorney at law, commented "There is a price to pay for treachery and time will tell", referencing to King's upcoming decision. Some members of the public took to social media to express their disappointment and disagreement, whilst others agreed with the decision. King won re-election as an independent in the 2021 Saint Lucian general election, defeating his UWP opponent Jeannine Giraudy-McIntyre with 69.5% of the vote.Personal life
King married Rosella Nestor, his longtime partner in a wedding ceremony in Miami on Saturday 29 November 2008.See also
* List of prime ministers of Saint Lucia * United Workers PartyReferences
External links