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Dean Barrow | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Barrow in 2013 | |
| 4thPrime Minister of Belize | |
| In office 8 February 2008 – 12 November 2020 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor‑General | SirColville Young |
| Deputy | Gaspar Vega(2008–2016) Patrick Faber(2016–2020)[1] Hugo Patt(2020–2020) |
| Preceded by | Said Musa |
| Succeeded by | Johnny Briceño |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 30 August 1998 – 8 February 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Said Musa |
| Preceded by | Said Musa |
| Succeeded by | Johnny Briceño |
| Member of theBelize House of Representatives forQueen's Square | |
| In office 14 December 1984 – 12 November 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Denise Barrow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dean Oliver Barrow (1951-03-02)2 March 1951 (age 74) Belize City,British Honduras (nowBelize) |
| Political party | United Democratic Party (1984–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Lois Young (before 2009) Kim Simplis(2009–present) |
| Alma mater | University of the West Indies at Cave Hill Norman Manley Law School University of Miami |
Dean Oliver Barrow,SCPC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician fromBelize who served as the fourthprime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize'sUnited Democratic Party.
An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize'sdeputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs from 1993 to 1998 and wasLeader of the Opposition from 1998 until the UDP won theFebruary 2008 election. Barrow was elected to his first term as prime minister in 2008. He started his second term after the UDP again won anelection on March 7, 2012 and his third term when the UDP won again on November 4, 2015.
Barrow was born and raised inBelize City,British Honduras (now Belize).[citation needed] He is a grandson of Ebenezer Oliver Buntin Barrow, a district commissioner in British Honduras and officeholder in theNational Party.[2] He attended theUniversity of Miami inCoral Gables, Florida, where he graduated with a degree in economics and political science.
Following his graduation from the University of Miami, Barrow returned toBelize, where he entered the legal profession in 1974, working with his maternal uncleDean Lindo and rising to partner in Lindo's firm in 1977. He eventually left to form his own law firm, Barrow and Williams, with partnerRodwell Williams. He left the firm in 2008, but maintains the title of senior partner. Among his firms' more controversial clients wasLord Ashcroft and Ashcroft's associated businesses, includingBelize Bank andBelize Telemedia Limited, formerly known as Belize Telecommunications Limited.
In December 1983, Barrow entered electoral politics as a candidate inBelize City's elections for city council, which he won as part of a nine-man slate. Before that year's redistricting, in1984 Barrow waspreselected as the UDP candidate forCollet but after redistricting chose to contest the newly createdQueen's Square constituency instead, as was his prerogative under UDP party rules. In the ensuing election Barrow handily defeatedRalph Fonseca of thePeople's United Party. Soon after he was appointed to the firstManuel Esquivel Cabinet asAttorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the1989 general election, Barrow defeated Thomas Greenwood but his party lost the election. Barrow continued in his law practice. In 1990, he became deputy UDP leader under Esquivel after the death ofCurl Thompson. In 1993, Barrow won his third straight general election and returned to the Cabinet in the posts he held from the previous administration in addition to Minister of National Security. His detractors called him "Minister of Everything" during this period because he was a particularly high-profile spokesman for the Esquivel government.
After the UDP's devastating1998 election loss in which he was one of only three UDP winners, Barrow was elevated to UDP party leader andLeader of the Opposition, succeeding the defeated Esquivel. Barrow presided over the smallest oppositions (three and seven respectively) in the House of Representatives since 1974 and ever in the UDP's history. Barrow was reelected in 1998 and 2003 by closer margins than his previous elections over attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley. He has since been re-elected by comfortable majorities.
Prior to his retirement in 2020, Barrow was the most senior member of the UDP delegation in the Belize House as well as the Area Representative with the longest tenure of uninterrupted service. Among other Area Representatives, onlySaid Musa has had a longer cumulative time in office.
The UDP won a massive victory, with 25 out of 31 seats, in the general election held on 7 February 2008, and Barrow was sworn in as Prime Minister on 8 February. He is the country's first black Prime Minister.[3] He announced his Cabinet, including himself asMinister of Finance, on 11 February.[4]
The UDP won a reduced majority in the2012 general election and Barrow started his second term as Prime Minister on 9 March 2012. He announced his cabinet, including himself as theMinister of Finance and Economic Development, on 12 March 2012.
Barrow led the UDP to athird consecutive general election victory in November 2015, however he stated the election would be his last as party leader.[5]
Citing health issues, Barrow initially said he would step down as prime minister no later than the end of 2019 and hinted he could do so earlier.[6]
However, on 18 November 2018, Barrow's Cabinet urged him to remain as Prime Minister of Belize until the2020 Belizean general election. He said that he would take that move.
A convention to name Barrow's successor as UDP party leader was tentatively scheduled for May 2019, but in August 2019, the UDP postponed the date to 9 February 2020.[7]
There were two confirmed candidates for the leadership convention, with the first one beingDeputy Prime Minister,Patrick Faber and the other being National Security Minister,John Saldivar.
Barrow also stood down from his House seat in Queen's Square in the 2020 general election, endorsing his sister, Denise "Sister B" Barrow, to succeed him.[8]
Barrow returned to private practice and resumed his position as head of litigation[9] at the law firm of Barrow & Williams LLP.[10] He has since then been involved in many high-profile cases.[11][12][13][14][15]
Barrow has four children. The oldest, born Jamal Barrow, is a formerrapper who performed under the name Shyne. He has since changed his name toMoses Michael Levi Barrow. He was elected to the Belize House of Representatives with the center-rightBelize United Democratic Party in the Belize City-basedMesopotamia constituency in the2020 Belizean general election.[16][17] He was subsequently also appointed the Opposition Leader in the House of Representatives and the leader of the Belize United Democratic Party, in both June 2021 (until September 2021) and February 2022.[18]
With his first wife, Lois Young SC, their son Anwar runs a small-scale lending institution. Their daughter Deanne is a chemical engineer and an attorney. She practiced law out of her mother's (Lois Young) firm and is now an international patent attorney.[citation needed]
Barrow was married a second time 7 February 2009 inSavannah, Georgia to his long-time girlfriendKim Simplis.[19] They have one daughter, Salima.[citation needed]
Barrow attended St. Michael's College in Belize and theUniversity of the West Indies at Cave Hill inBarbados (LL.B. 1973); Norman Manley Law School, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica (Certificate of Legal Education, 1975);University of Miami School of Law (LL.M., 1981);University of Miami (M.A. International Relations).
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Leader of theUnited Democratic Party 1998–2020 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 1998–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Belize 2008–2020 | Succeeded by |
Speaker:Valerie Woods
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| Belize District |
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| Cayo District |
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| Corozal District |
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| Orange Walk District |
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| Stann Creek District |
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| Toledo District |
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| International | |
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| National | |
