Andrew Michael Holness, ON, MP (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has been the Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, following the 2016 Jamaican general election.[1] Holness previously served as prime minister from 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 Jamaica Labour Party'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.[2] In 2020, The Labour Party won another general election, and on September 7th Holness was sworn in for another term as prime minister.[3]
The Most Honourable
Andrew Holness
ON MP
Holness in 2020
9th Prime Minister of Jamaica
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 March 2016
Monarch
Elizabeth II
Governor General
Patrick Allen
Preceded by
Portia Simpson-Miller
In office
23 October 2011 – 5 January 2012
Monarch
Elizabeth II
Governor General
Patrick Allen
Preceded by
Bruce Golding
Succeeded by
Portia Simpson-Miller
Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party
Incumbent
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 (age 48)
Spanish Town, Jamaica
Political party
Jamaica Labour Party
Spouse(s)
Juliet Landell (m. 1997)
Children
2
Alma mater
University of the West Indies
Holness is the youngest person to have been elected and reelected prime minister in Jamaica's history. He is also the first prime minister to have been born after Jamaica gained independence in 1962.[4]
Early life Edit
Andrew Holness is a graduate of St. Catherine High School and of the University of the West Indies, where he pursued a Bachelor of Science in Management Studies and a Master of Science in Development Studies.[5] In 1997 he married Juliet Holness (née Landell), an accountant, whom he had met as a student at St. Catherine High School during the 1980s.[6][7] The couple have two children, Adam and Matthew.[8]
Holness served as Executive Director at the Voluntary Organization for Uplifting Children from 1994 to 1996 and then joined the Premium Group of Companies, acting as a special assistant to Edward Seaga.
He is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[9]