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Hon. Miss Mia A. Mottley, Q.C., M.P.
Leader of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party/
Political Leader of the Barbados Labour Party

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

The Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C., M.P. was elected to the Barbados Parliament in September 1994 as part of new Barbados Labour Party Administration led by the Right Hon. Owen S. Arthur, M.P., Prime Minister.  Prior to being elected as a Member of Parliament, Miss Mottley served as one of two (2) Opposition Senators in the Upper House between 1991 and 1994 where she served as Shadow Minister of Culture and Community Development.  During that time, she also served on numerous Parliamentary Joint Select Committees on areas ranging from Praedial Larceny and Domestic Violence.

One of the youngest persons ever to be assigned a ministerial portfolio, Ms Mottley was appointed Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture in 1994.  During her tenure as Minister, she was the visionary behind the Education Reform programme which was captured in that Ministry’s White Paper “Each Child Matters”.  In 1996 and again in 1997 she served as Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Standing Committee of Ministers of Education.

Miss Mottley ably led the Education Ministry’s largest ever public sector investment project, the Education Sector Enhancement Programme, a US 213 million dollar comprehensive reform initiative. One of the major components of this Programme involved the widespread use of information and communications technologies to assist with improving the quality of the teaching-learning process. In this regard, Barbados was the first CARICOM nation to take its entire education system in this direction.

Part of her portfolio as Minister between 1994 and 2001 included responsibility for Youth Affairs and Culture.  In Youth Affairs, she directed the creation of this department including the very successful establishment of a Youth Entrepreneurs’ Scheme and a national Youth Development Programme. Her work in Culture stands out in respect of the programming she directed, reflecting both culture as a developmental tool in the fashioning of a society, and the expansion of the economic aspects of the arts.

In August 2001 Miss Mottley made history when she was appointed Attorney-General, the first female in Barbados to hold this position.  This appointment also included the portfolio of Home Affairs.  She achieved yet another first when she was called to the Inner Bar of Barbados, becoming the youngest ever Queen’s Counsel on island

January 2002 opened with Ms. Mottley becoming a Local Privy Councilor, an appointment which was re-confirmed by the Governor- General in January 2007.

Additionally, she was appointed Leader of Government’s Business in the Lower House.

In keeping with her new mandate as Attorney General, she assumed the chairmanship of the Regional Preparatory Committee for the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice in the latter half of 2001.

Two years after becoming Attorney-General, Miss Mottley was invited to serve as the island’s second female Deputy Prime Minister. In this capacity she is also the Chairman of the Social Council of Barbados and the Deputy Chairman of Barbados’ Economic Council. Her responsibilities also extended to the chairmanship of a number of key Cabinet sub-committees, notably Telecommunications Reform and one oversight of the administrative and legislative initiatives to prepare Barbados for the advent of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy. 

Since 2006 she has been serving as a Governor of the Caribbean Development Bank, the International Development Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank).

As Minister of Economic Affairs and Development, she was responsible for the finalization of the Barbados National Strategic Plan 2006-2025 and the implementation of the Industrial Policy 2007-2012.  In this Ministry, Miss Mottley also assumed responsibility for international business and has spearheaded the finalization of the International Business Plan 2007-2012. 

In the House of Assembly, as the Leader of Government Business she coordinated the amendment of legislation relating to the policy framework in the context of the new international environment. 

The Urban Development Commission, a Government agency which seeks to effect housing solutions and provide micro-enterprise financing for persons living in Barbados’ urban corridor, is another department for which the Minister of Economic Affairs and Development had responsibility.

Ms Mottley served as Chairman of the CARICOM Regional Ad Hoc Sub-Committee of Ministers of National Security and Law Enforcement on Security Issues Pertaining to Cricket World Cup (CWC) where she coordinated, inter alia, the implementation of:

She also served on the Council of Legal Education and the Barbados Defence Board.  She is currently a member of the National Security Council of Barbados. 

Miss Mottley headed the Barbados Delegation which attended the hearing of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights in the matter of the Death Penalty on October 20, 2003.  She also led Barbados’s legal team which successfully argued the constitutionality of the mandatory death penalty before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the Law Lords) in the Case of Lennox Boyce and Jeffrey Joseph v. the Queen.

A widely recognised regional and international speaker, Ms Mottley   also delivered several lectures, keynote addresses and was a Featured Speaker at regional and international events.  Miss Mottley has been recognized by Essence Magazine as one of the 100 emerging leaders of the twenty-first century.

A third generation politician, Mia Amor was born on October 1st, 1965 to Amor and Elliott Mottley, Q.C., her father being a distinguished lawyer and former Attorney General of Bermuda.

Her primary education commenced at the Merrivale Preparatory School in Barbados. She later attended the United Nations International School in New York in 1976 and Queen’s College in Barbados from 1977-1983. Miss Mottley received her legal education at the London School of Economics. She is an Attorney-at-Law in Barbados and also a Barrister of the Bar of England and Wales.

Ms Mottley again made history in January, 2008 when she became Barbados first female Leader of the Opposition.  

A musical aficionado, Mia Amor has an extensive collection of all genres of music ranging from Jazz to Calypso to Reggae to World Beat.  Widely read, she also finds time to dabble in the culinary arts during her spare time.