Denzil Douglas

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 degree in 1977 and a Degree in Medicine in 1984 from the University of the West Indies. 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.

Appointment to Privy Council

In 2011, Douglas was appointed to Her Majesty’s Privy Council, with the prefix ‘Right Honorable’ added to his name. The Privy Council is a body of advisors to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom. They advise the queen in dispensing duties as a monarch. Before Douglas, Prime Minister Kennedy Simmonds was appointed a Privy Counselor in 1994.

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 in 1989 and appointed Leader of the Opposition. That year he was also elected leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.

He restructured the party in preparation for its 1995 electoral victory. He was appointed Prime Minister of the Federation 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 he was appointed a Privy Counsellor which bestowed him the title of "Right Honourable."

Laptops for high school students

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.