The Most Hon. Edward Phillip George Seaga (1980 - 1989)

After high school he attended the Harvard University where he graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences. Seaga went on to become one of the most successful music producers and record company owner before diverting his attention to focus on his political career.

At the age of 29, Seaga became the youngest member in the history of the Legislative Council to be nominated to serve in the Upper House of the Jamaica Legislature (later the Senate). Following his election to the House of Representatives in 1962 as Member of Parliament for Western Kingston, Edward Seaga held the positions of Minister of Welfare and Development (1962-67), and Finance Minister (1967-72). He also held the portfolio for Information and Culture. He became leader of the JLP in 1974, a position he held until his retirement from representational politics in 2005.

In the 1980 elections, the JLP under Seaga’s leadership won 51 out of 60 seats in the House of Representatives and Seaga was appointed Prime Minister of Jamaica. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Jamaica Festival which featured an annual showcase of Jamaica’s music and culture. Seaga was also responsible for numerous successful anti-poverty urban development and educational aid programmes that have helped some of the poorest in his constituency, his home district and Jamaica at large. He also served on the board of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and was one of the architects of the Caribbean Basin Initiative sponsored by then US President, Ronald Reagan.

Seaga served as Jamaica’s Prime Minister from 1980 – 1989 when his party lost the general elections to the PNP. Following his retirement from representational politics, Edward Seaga assumed the position of Senior Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies. He is also a lecturer at the University of Technology.

In 1965 Seaga married Marie (“Mitsy”) Constantine, the former Miss Jamaica 1964. The union produced three children, Anabelle, Andrew and Christopher. After thirty years of marriage the couple divorced in 1996. He went on to marry Carla Vendryes in 1997. They have a daughter, Gabrielle.