The Honorable Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller

Portia SIMPSON MILLER,

Original namePortia Lucretia Simpson (bornDecember 12, 1945,Wood Hall, St. Catherine parish, Jamaica),Jamaican politician who served as the countrys first female prime minister (200607) and was elected to a second term in 2012.Portia Simpson received her early education at Marlie Hill Primary School and St. Martins High School. After her graduation from high school, she studied at the Jamaica Commercial Institute and worked as a secretary and in the field of social services. She became involved in politics as a member of the liberalPeoples National Party(PNP) and in 1974 was elected to the city council of theKingston and St. Andrew Corporation (essentially, the Kingston metropolitan area) as a representative from the Trench Town area. In 1976 she won election to the House of Representatives from the constituency of St. Andrew South Western (part of the Kingston metropolitan area); she was reelected in 1980. With the rest of her party, she sat out the 1983 general elections but retook her parliamentary seat in the 1989 elections and retained it thereafter.Simpson was parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and, later, in the Office of the Prime Minister (197780) during the first administration ofMichael Manley. She was named Minister of Labour, Welfare, and Sports in 1989 and stayed in the cabinet for 17 years whilethe PNP remained in power. Her portfolio was subsequently modified to Labour and Welfare (199395), Labour, Social Security and Sports (19952000), Tourism and Sports (200002), and Local Government, Community Development and Sport (200206). During her tenure she oversaw reform of the countrys overseas farmworker employment programs. She was also a noted public supporter of Jamaicas athletic teams and established the Sports Development Foundation (1995), an independent body that, among other things, supported community and school sports programs and funded the building of stadiums and playing fields. During the same period, she also rose through the PNPs ranks, serving as her partys vice president (19782006) and heading its Womens Movement (19832006).Well into her career in public service, Simpson earned a bachelors degree in public administration from Union Institute and University in North Miami Beach, Florida (1997). She also completed the Leaders in Development executive education program of Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government (1999). In 1998 she married business executive Errald Miller and added his surname after hers.In 2002 the leader of the PNP, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, announced that he would retire from politics before the next elections. In preparation for that event, in February 2006 the party held a leadership election that was won by Simpson Miller, who edged out her male rivals with a campaign that featured the distinctive slogan Come to Mama. Upon Pattersons retirement the following month, Simpson Miller tookofficeas the countrys first female prime minister. Her administration worked to abolish health care fees for children and pledged greatergovernmentaid to first-time home buyers. Simpson Miller and her party enjoyed popularity among the public, but her administrations reputation was damaged by a financial scandal and by its perceived slowness in providing disaster relief after Hurricane Dean in mid-August 2007. In the scheduled general elections held soon after, in September, the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) bested the PNPwinning 33 parliamentary seats to the PNPs 27and Simpson Miller was replaced by Bruce Golding as prime minister, though she retained her seat in Parliament.After Goldings resignation in October 2011, his successor, Andrew Holness, called for early elections to be held on December 29. The PNP, still headed by Simpson Miller, won convincingly, with 42 seats to the JLPs 21. In her January 2012 inaugural speech, the newly reinstalled prime minister emphasized her administrations commitment to regional integration and cooperation. She also announced that during the yearwhich marked the 50th anniversary of Jamaicas independence from Great Britainher administration would begin the process of becoming a republic to complete the circle of independence. Simpson Miller received the Jamaican Order of the Nation in 2006.

FAMOUS QUOTESJamaica is more than just the 'brand' the world recognizes so well; it's a place of pride for the people who live here, its educational institutions, its sports achievements, its science and technology growth.Portia Simpson-Miller

If you empower people in their communities and get them jobs, no one can win their hearts and minds and hold them hostage.Portia Simpson-Miller

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RISE TO FAME Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, we believe, was a worthy inductee into the hall of fame of the International Women's Forum, a global organization of women that promotes better leadership around the world.Indeed, Mrs Simpson Miller's rise through the ranks to become the leader to a major political party in Jamaica and prime minister of the English-speaking Caribbean's politically most influential country is of itself a substantial achievement.After all, politics in Jamaica, as it is in most countries, is a male-dominated, time-consuming and often gritty business, in which women usually start at a disadvantage. It would have required special qualities for Mrs Simpson Miller to have risen to the top of her party and, ultimately, prime minister of Jamaica.Some of those qualities, such as the prime minister's charisma, her highly developed emotional intelligence and her capacity to connect with people, are especially beneficial to her government and country.Those skills have helped to keep the society stable in the face of the economic austerity that forms part of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) imposed prescription for Jamaica's fiscal crisis. Mrs. Simpson Miller can leverage these capacities to greater effect for the recovery of the economy.

Student: Keely Shay Arianna Reid5