Dean Oliver Barrow was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Belize on Friday, 8 February 2008.

Early life and education

Dean Oliver Barrow was born in Belize City on 2 March 1951. He was trained at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill (LLB 1973); Norman Manley Law School, Mona (Certificate of Legal Education, 1975); University of Miami School of Law (LM, 1981) and the University of Miami (M.A. International Relations).

Career

Mr. Barrow was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1984 general election as the United Democratic Party candidate in the Queen’s Square electoral division. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economic Development in the 1984-1989 UDP administration.

Mr. Barrow was re-elected to his Queen’s Square House seat in 1989 and 1993. In the 1993-1998 UDP term in government he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Security, and Attorney General.

Following the UDP’s defeat at the 1998 election, Mr. Barrow, who had retained his seat in the House of Representatives, was elected Leader of the Opposition. As party leader he was again re-elected as Area Representatives for Queen’s Square at the 2003 general election, and increased his party’s standing in the House of Representatives. On Thursday, February 7, 2008, Mr. Barrow led the UDP to office in a landslide general election victory. In Belize’s sixth post-independence election on Thursday, the UDP won 25 of the 31 seats in the House of Representatives.

As Prime Minister, Mr. Barrow is committed to the task of national reconstruction. He is committed to the quick implementation of his party’s reform agenda, providing the right checks and balances, including penalties, and to restoring to the people the rightful authority over their elected officials and public officers that a true democracy dictates. Speaking at an impromptu “pre-victory rally victory rally” at his party’s headquarters on election night, Mr. Barrow vowed that the new government would not stray from the straight and narrow.

Honours and awards

On 1 March 2016, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II announced that Barrow was appointed as a Member of the Privy Council. With this, the Prime Minister is now legitimately referred to as the Right Honourable Dean Barrow.