The Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Llewellyn Douglas was sworn in as the Second Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis immediately following the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party’s impressive election victory in July 1995.

Dr. Douglas was born January 14th, 1953, in the Village of St. Paul’s. Upon the completion of his secondary education, he taught for one year then proceeded to the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, where he obtained his BSC (Hons) in Natural Sciences in 1977. Dr Douglas returned home and again taught for 2 years, then continued further studies at Mona Campus to obtain a Bachelor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Surgery degrees in 1984. Following a two-year internship in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Douglas returned to St. Kitts and Nevis and established a private medical practice and served as the President of the St Kitts-Nevis Medical Association for several years.

Denzil Douglas’ political career began at an early age in 1979 when he became the first Young Labour Representative to sit on the National Executive of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party. In 1987 he was elected Deputy Chairman of the Party.

In March 1989, he was elected as the Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher 6 (Newton Ground/Harris’) and was appointed Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. In May that year he was elected National Political Leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.

Over the next five years, Dr. Douglas restructured and modernized the Labour Party, paving the way for the landslide victory in the 1995 Elections, when the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party won 7 of the 8 seats on St. Kitts. Dr. Douglas was sworn in as Prime Minister July 4th and set about creating a diversified economy based on agriculture, tourism, international financial services, and information and communication services, and light manufacturing enclave, with a massive land empowerment program and expansion in the housing, education, and health sectors.

In the Election of 2000 Dr. Douglas was re-appointed Prime Minister, winning all eight of the seats on St. Kitts in the 11-seat National Assembly of the Federal Parliament. Calling an early Election in 2004, Dr Denzil Douglas again led the Labour Party to secure a mandate at the Polls, winning seven of the eight seats on St. Kitts, with Dr. Douglas commencing his third term as Prime Minister.

With a fourth consecutive victory at the Polls, winning six of the eight seats on St. Kitts, Denzil Douglas in January 2010, forged a working relationship with Nevis with the Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs serving as a Member of the Federal Cabinet. Dr Douglas then became the longest serving Prime Minister in the English-speaking Caribbean and the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations.

Having skillfully advanced the social, economic, and political interests of St. Kitts and Nevis over the twenty years that he served as Prime Minister, Dr Douglas today remains a popular highly regarded leader. He played an active role in key regional and international organizations, and received awards for outstanding leadership, peacekeeping, and his role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

His many Awards include:

  • Gandhi-King-Ikeda Peace Award

  • Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, Republic of China (Taiwan)

  • Order of the Liberator (First Class), Bolivarian of Venezuela

  • Legacy Award, American Foundation of the UWI (New York)

  • Global Award, Trumpet Awards, Las Vegas, Nevada

  • United States Congressional Black Caucus Award

  • In November 2011 Dr Douglas was appointed to Her Majesty’s Privy Council, thus earning the prefixes
    “Right Honourable” to his name.

  • In September 2013, Prime Minister Douglas received the 2013 South-South Award for Renewable
    Energy Innovation and Information Communication Technology.

  • In October 2013, he led a high-level group of Commonwealth Ministers of Finance in a meeting with Heads
    of leading International Financial Institutions in Washington, DC and made a case for the urgent need to address
    the debt and financing challenges of Small States

Prime Minister Douglas was also the spokesman on HIV/AIDS, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and other health related matters in CARICOM quasi-Cabinet, thus earning him much praise and recognition for his leadership role in the fight against HIV/AIDS from former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton of the Clinton Global Initiative and George Bush.

As Prime Minister, Dr. Douglas played an active leadership role in many regional and international organisations:

  • Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

  • Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB)

  • Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

  • Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)

  • Association of Caribbean States (ACS)

  • Organization of American States (OAS)

  • International Monetary Fund (IMF)

  • World Bank

  • The Commonwealth

  • United Nations

  • Small States Forum of the World Bank

Among the Papers that he delivered are:
✓ “Status of the [U.S.] President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [PEPFAR]”, US/Caribbean Health Officials Conference,
Bridgetown Barbados, January 2011
✓ “Assessment Progress; Political Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS”, United Nations Headquarters, June 2011
✓ “Charting the Future of Health and Development in the Caribbean”, Second Caribbean Public Health Agency [CARPHA]
Partners Meeting, in Washington, DC, June 2011
✓ “Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS”, Tenth Meeting of Regional Coordinating Mechanism, St. Kitts-Nevis,
April 2008
✓ “Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and the Caribbean”, Caribbean Community Summit, Trinidad &
Tobago, September 2007
✓ “Reducing HIV/AIDS Stigma and Discrimination”, CARICOM/ UK Conference, St. Kitts-Nevis, November 2004
✓ “Accelerating the Response to HIV/AIDS”, World Bank Headquarters, Washington DC, June 2003
✓ “The Multi-Level Approach Toward HIV / AIDS”, Trinidad & Tobago, October 2001
✓ “Health Issues in the Caribbean”, Opening Session, Mona Academic Conference, University of the West
Indies, Jamaica, August 2001
✓ “Mounting an Effective National Response to HIV/AIDS”, Presentation of National AIDS Programme Draft Situation,
and Response Analysis, October 2000
✓ “Medicine 2000 and Beyond – The Intersection of Knowledge and Practice”, University of the West Indies Medical
Alumni Conference, St. Kitts-Nevis, November 2000.

Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas is also the Co-Author of two books: “Coming of Age” and “For The Good That We Can Do”

In February 2015, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas resigned as the second Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis.

Rt. Hon. Dr Denzil Douglas served as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in the National Assembly from February 2015 to July 2022.
Following the General Elections of August 2022, and the victory at the Polls for the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, the Right Honourable Dr Denzil L Douglas was sworn in as the Minister of Foreign affairs, International Trade, Industry & Commerce, Consumer Affairs, Economic Development and Investment.