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Andrew Holness | |
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![]() Holness in 2020 | |
9th Prime Minister of Jamaica | |
Assumed office 3 March 2016 | |
Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Deputy | Horace Chang |
Governor-General | Sir Patrick Allen |
Preceded by | Portia Simpson-Miller |
In office 23 October 2011 – 5 January 2012 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Deputy | Kenneth Baugh |
Governor-General | Sir Patrick Allen |
Preceded by | Bruce Golding |
Succeeded by | Portia Simpson-Miller |
Leader of the Opposition | |
In office 5 January 2012 – 3 March 2016 | |
Prime Minister | Portia Simpson-Miller |
Preceded by | Portia Simpson-Miller |
Succeeded by | Portia Simpson-Miller |
Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party | |
Assumed office 20 November 2011 | |
Preceded by | Bruce Golding |
Minister of Education | |
In office 11 September 2007 – 1 January 2012 | |
Prime Minister | Bruce Golding Himself |
Preceded by | Maxine Henry-Wilson |
Succeeded by | Ronald Thwaites |
Personal details | |
Born | Andrew Michael Holness 22 July 1972 Spanish Town, St. Catherine, Jamaica |
Political party | Jamaica Labour Party |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Education | St. Catherine High School |
Alma mater | University of the West Indies |
Andrew Michael Holness, ON PC (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.
Holness previously served as prime minister from 23 October 2011 to 5 January 2012. He succeeded Bruce Golding as prime minister, and decided to go to the polls in the 29 December 2011 general election in an attempt to get his own mandate from the Jamaican electorate. He failed in that bid, however, losing to the People's National Party led by Portia Simpson-Miller, with the PNP gaining 42 seats to the JLP's 21. Following that defeat, Holness served as Leader of the Opposition from January 2012 to March 2016, when he once again assumed the position of prime minister.[1] In 2020, the Labour Party won a landslide in another general election, and on 7 September Holness was sworn in for another term as prime minister.[2]
In October 2011, at the age of 39, Holness became the youngest person ever to be prime minister in Jamaica's history. In March 2016, aged 43, he became the youngest to ever be elected prime minister. He is also the first prime minister to have been born after Jamaica gained independence in 1962. He is currently the longest serving prime minister from the Jamaica Labour Party.[3]