Mark Anthony Graham Brantley is a politician and Cabinet Minister in St. Kitts and Nevis.

Early life and edcuation

Mark Anthony Graham Brantley was born on 11 January 1969. to single, struggling mother Cynthia “Vicky” Williams, Brantley was one of four children. His father, Irving Brantley, was living in the United States but supported the family financially as best he could. Mark spent his early life in a modest home in Hanley’s Road, Gingerland, Nevis.

Brantley began his academic career at the ‘Chapel School’ at the Methodist Church in Gingerland, and thereafter moved on to the newly built Gingerland Primary School (now Joycelyn Liburd Primary School). At age eight, his family moved to Brown Hill, where he attended the Prospect Primary School (now Ivor Walters Primary School). He went on to the Charlestown Secondary School, followed by a two-year stint at the Nevis Sixth Form College.

Mark obtained his law degree from the University of the West Indies (1992) and his Legal Education Certificate from Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica (1994). Mark also holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford (1995).

Career

He returned to Nevis, and for one year functioned as the Legal Counsel for the Nevis Island Administration. He then joined Simeon Daniel to form the Daniel, Brantley & Associates law firm. He is currently a Member of the Bar in St. Kitts-Nevis (1994), Anguilla (1996), Grenada (2009), and Antigua and Barbuda (2009).

Brantley has practiced extensively before the High Court and Court of Appeal and has been involved in several pieces of high end commercial litigation including a shareholder dispute in a company valued at over US$3 billion and the first class action law suit brought in the Eastern Caribbean under the provisions of the Civil Procedure Rules 2000 representing over 120 Claimants. Some of the notable cases in which he has been involved include The Nevis Island Administration v. La Copropriete Du Navire J31 et al (Rawlins, JA); Platinum Trading Limited v. Craig Reeves (CA); Gigi Osco-Bingeman et al v. John Paul de Joria (HC and CA); Hotel de Health (Caribbean) Inc. v. Ronald Webster (CA); Hansa Bank v. The Attorney General of Anguilla (HC); The Attorney General of St. Kitts & Nevis & Anor. v Queensway Trustees Limited (HC and CA); Surfside Trading Limited v. Joe Brice et al (HC).

Brantley took a leave of absence from the practice to pursue his political life. At age 37, he became a member of the Concerned Citizen’s Movement. In 2007, he defeated Hensley Daniel in the bi-election occasioned by the death of Hon. Malcolm Guishard to secure his first seat in the Federal Parliament. The seat came with the title of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. In January 2010, he again defeated Daniel and was returned to Parliament as Opposition Leader.

Prior to the 2015 General Election, Brantley was the Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism, Health, Culture, Youth, Sports, and Community Development of the Nevis Island Administration. Mark also serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Following the Team Unity victory in the 2015 General Election, Brantley was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation on 22 February 2015.

On 19 December 2017, Brantley was sworn in as Premier of Nevis following the CCM's victory in the Nevis Island Assembly Election on 18 December 2017.

Personal life

Brantley is married and has two daughters.