- Home
- About the Office of the Prime Minister
- The Prime Minister
- Past Prime Ministers
- The Most Hon. Michael Norman Manley (1972 - 1980), (1989 - 1992)
The Most Hon. Michael Norman Manley (1972 - 1980), (1989 - 1992)
Manley volunteered for service in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943, during World War II. At the end of the war he attended the London School of Economics where he studied politics, philosophy and economics. Upon graduation, Michael Manley returned to Jamaica where he served as an editor and columnist for the ‘Public Opinion’ newspaper.
In 1962, Manley accepted an appointment to the Senate as a member of the People’s National Party. He won an election to the House of Representatives in 1967 and in 1969 became the leader of the PNP, following the retirement of his father, Norman Manley. He served in the capacity as opposition leader and Member of Parliament for Central Kingston constituency until 1972 when the PNP won the general elections.
Manley sought to restructure the politics and economy of Jamaica through far-reaching legislation. He had several achievements such as the building of over 40,000 new housing units, free education which was made available to all students, and the construction of new hospitals which impacted on the infant mortality rate that was cut in half.
His pioneering programme of legislative social reforms in the 1970s and his role in the formation of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and later the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), guaranteed him a prominent place in modern Caribbean history.
His advocacy of a New International Economic Order (NIEO) and his defense of sovereignty for ex-colonial countries made him an international figure of enormous consequence for world politics during the decade of the 1970s. In all of this, Michael Manley was driven by a passionate concern for human equality. Although he was from an elite family, Manley was able to maintain a close relationship with the country’s poor and black majority because of his successful trade union background and his dynamic personality.
In his second term as Prime Minister, Michael Manley placed greater emphasis on the small business sector and increased government spending on education. On March 16 1992, Michael Manley announced his retirement as Prime for health reasons. He died on March 6th 1997 in Kingston. He is survived by his wife Glynn and five children, Rachel, Joseph, Sarah, Natasha and David Manley.
