Stuart Richard Young (born 9 February 1975) is a

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

attorney and politician who served as the eighth

prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of the executive branch of government in Trinidad and Tobago. Following a general election, which takes place every five years, the president appoints as prime minister the person who has t ...

between March and May 2025. As member of the

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active Politics of Trinidad and Tobago, political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's hist ...

(PNM), he has been a member of parliament (MP) in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

for Port-of-Spain North/St. Ann's West since

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. He was the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. On 6 January 2025, it was announced Young would be the

presumptive nominee Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

to succeed as prime minister in August 2025 when

Keith Rowley Keith Christopher Rowley (born 24 October 1949) is a Trinidadian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 to 2025. He was the leader the People's National Movement (PNM) from 2010 to 2025 and was ...

intends to resign from representational politics. Young has previously held the posts of Minister of National Security, Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and Minister of Communications. Young was appointed a Senior Counsel on 20 June 2024. Young lead the PNM into the

2025 Trinidad and Tobago general election General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 28 April 2025 to elect all 41 members of the House of Representatives. President Christine Kangaloo, on the advice of Prime Minister Stuart Young, dissolved parliament and issued the writs ...

which was lost to

Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Susheila Persad-Bissessar Senior Counsel, SC Member of parliament, MP (, born 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB is a Trinidadian lawyer, politician and educator who has twice served as the sixth List of prime ministers ...

of the

United National Congress The United National Congress ( UNC or UNCTT) is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago. The UNC is a Centre-left politics, centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unio ...

(UNC). In the aftermath of the election, Young resigned as PNM party chairman on April 30.

Early life and education

Young was born on Henry Street,

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

, on 9 February 1975 to Richard Peter Young, a

Chinese Trinidadian Chinese Trinidadians and Tobagonians (sometimes Sino-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Chinese Trinbagonians) are Trinidadians and Tobagonians of Han Chinese ancestry. The group includes people from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Overseas Chinese w ...

, and Priscilla Hosein, an Indo-Trinidadian. He was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

but his mother is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and grew up on Lal Beharry Trace in

Debe Debe (or Débé) is a town in south Trinidad located in the region of Penal–Debe. Debe has grown from a small settlement into a key transit point which as has merged to some extent with Penal. A denomination high school was established by the ...

. He was the oldest of three children. He attended St Mary's College in

, where he was a head altar boy. He considered becoming a priest or accountant but ultimately decided to pursue law at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

in England. While in school he participated in competitive swimming, cycling, and running, as well as being a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Sea Scouts. He was called to the

Bar of England and Wales Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

as a

junior barrister A junior barrister is a barrister who has not yet attained the rank of King's Counsel. Although the term is archaic and not commonly used, junior barristers (or "juniors") can also be referred to as utter barristers derived from "outer barrist ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in July 1997. The following year, he received a

legal education certificate In the Commonwealth Caribbean, a Legal Education Certificate is a professional certification awarded to a person who has completed a course of study and training at a law school established by the Council of Legal Education. It was created by Art ...

from the

Hugh Wooding Law School The Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) is a law school in Trinidad and Tobago. History Named for Trinidad and Tobago jurist and politician Hugh Wooding, HWLS is one of three law schools empowered by the (Caribbean) Council of Legal Education to a ...

and was admitted to the bar in Trinidad and Tobago. He was also admitted to the bars of the

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and

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

. Young has appeared as counsel in various commissions of enquiry, including the Piarco Commission of Enquiry, the Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector and the Commission of Enquiry into the Hindu Credit Union and CL Financial. He served on the American Chamber of Commerce legislative committee, as a board member of FUNDAID, and as a council member of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago. He is the chair and a founding member of Synergy Entertainment Network Limited and W.I. Sports Limited''.''

Political career

Young began his political career on 18 March 2014, serving as a temporary Opposition Senator during the 4th Session of the 10th Republican Parliament. The following year, he was successfully chosen as the PNM candidate to be the Member of Parliament in the

for Port of Spain North/Saint Ann's West. He was elected into office on 7 September 2015. Following the election, he was appointed as a Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs on 11 September 2015, a post that he held until 5 August 2018. On 17 March 2016, he was assigned to the additional position of Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. From 7 June 2018 until 20 July 2019, he was Minister of Communications and from 6 August 2018 until 18 April 2021, he was Minister of National Security. He has been described as the "Minister of Everything". Young also serves as chairman of the Finance & General Purposes Committee of the Cabinet (F&GP), as well as being a member of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

(NSC), the Energy Standing Committee, the Human Advisory Committee, the Committee of Privileges and the Statutory Instruments Committee. Young was re-elected to office during the 2020 general election on 10 August 2020. He was appointed to the joint select committee for Energy Affairs and the Cannabis Control Bill, 2020 on 9 November 2020. He was also a co-chair of the Government Empowered Negotiating Team for energy. On 19 April 2021, he was re-assigned as Minister of Energy and Energy Industries to take over from Franklin Khan, who died in office. In December 2022, Young was elected as the Chairman of the PNM. After the party's defeat in the 2025 general election, Young resigned party chairman. On 3 January 2025, Prime Minister

announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister before elections are constitutionally due later this year. On 26 February 2025, Prime Minister Keith Rowley announced he would officially resign from office on 16 March. On 6 January 2025, Stuart Young was elected by the PNM Parliamentary caucus as Prime Minister designate. He won with 11 votes to

Pennelope Beckles-Robinson Pennelope Althea Beckles-Robinson (born 12 September 1961) is a Trinidadian attorney and politician. She has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Arima since the 2020 general election. She is the incumbent Leader ...

's nine. He replaced Rowley on 17 March 2025, becoming Trinidad and Tobago's 8th Prime Minister. After becoming Prime Minister, a social media post about the incident of him being accused of bullying became popular, and Young responded a few days later saying that bullying in Trinidad and Tobago could not be overlooked. Barry Padarath, the MP for

Princes Town Princes Town (originally founded as Savana Grande) is a town within an eponymous region, located on south-Central Trinidad island in Trinidad and Tobago. The population of the town is 28,335. History Founded as the Amerindian '' Mission of S ...

, asked Young to apologise. Five hours after assuming his role as Prime Minister, Young changed Rowley's cabinet. He appointed Vishnu Dhanpaul, the former Trinidadian High Commissioner to Canada, as finance minister. He also replaced Reginald Armour with Camille Robinson-Regis, the former housing minister, as the new attorney general. He also replaced the security minister, Fitzgerald Hinds, with Marvin Gonzales, in turn replacing Robinson-Regis as housing minister with Adrian Leonce. Hassel Bacchus stayed as digital transformation minister, as well as taking on the role of junior finance minister. On his second day in office, Young advised President

Christine Kangaloo Christine Carla Kangaloo (born 1 December 1961) is a Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidadian politician and lawyer, who has been the 7th president of Trinidad and Tobago since 2023. Biography Christine Kangaloo was born into a Presbyterian Church of ...

dissolve parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democrac ...

and call an election for 28 April.

Electoral history

References