Lowell Lyttleton Lewis is a politician, a former Chief Minister of Montserrat.

Early life and education

Born 18 August 1952 in Kinsale Montserrat W. I. Second son of the late Mr J D Lewis and Mrs Amelia Lewis, formerly of Trials Road, Kinsale. Five brothers, Josephus, Glenn, Karl, Ralph and Stephen.

Educated at the Montserrat Secondary School from 1963 to 1969. United World College of the Atlantic Sixth Form in South Wales, U.K. 1969 to 1971, and Sheffield University Medical School in the United Kingdom, graduating in June 1976 with Bachelor Degrees in Medicine and Surgery.

He was a First Class Boy Scout, Captain of Athletics at University, best performance being a 3rd place in the 1975 British Universities Decathlon Championships. He played cricket and rugby for University teams and gained the Certificate in Military Training and a commission in the United Kingdom Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve, serving as a pool reserve officer until 1978.

Career

After completion of medical internship, he returned to Montserrat in 1978 and served as District Medical Officer for the Northern and Eastern Districts for 1 year. He then returned to the United Kingdom to train as a general surgeon, gaining Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1982. He then spent a year in 1983 at the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene to gain the Diploma in Public Health.

From 1984 to 1991 he served as Director of Health Services and Surgeon Specialist for the Government of Montserrat. In 1990, he was awarded the Montserrat Certificate and Medal of Honour for services rendered during the disaster of Hurricane Hugo.

His first involvement in politics was in 1989, when he was member of a Government delegation to London to negotiate changes of the 1989 Constitution Order. In 1991 he resigned from the post of Director of Health Services to be an independent candidate in the general elections. He gained 43 votes, or about 5% of the votes cast in the southern constituency. He was not given an opportunity for reappointment to his previous post, and from that time has worked overseas, returning at regular intervals to consult and operate on private patients, and to provide locum cover for the surgeons in post.

From 1992 to 1994 he trained as a visiting registrar in Renal Transplant and GeneralSurgery in Portsmouth England, becoming an expert in dialysis and renal transplant surgery.

From 1994 to 1999, he was employed as Lecturer in Surgery at the Barbados Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. During this period he visited Montserrat about 20 times each year and provided all surgical services in Montserrat, for a period when the surgeon on island was not replaced after the eruption of the volcano. He has 25 recorded publications in the medical literature, and has a continuing research interest in medical education and renal surgery.

Dr Lewis has been an active lobbyist for Montserratian interests for over twenty years, giving radio and television interviews, speeches at international meetings, and meeting with members of Parliament and Government Officials in the United Kingdom.

In February 2001 he joined with the New People’s Liberation Movement to win the general election and form the Government of Montserrat. He served as Minister of Communication and Works and Deputy Chief Minister. In March 2003, he was dismissed from the post of Minister of Communication and Works, after which he continued to serve as an independent opposition member of the Legislative Council.

He took office on 2 June 2006 and headed a coalition government consisting of the Montserrat Democratic Party (MDP), which he leads, the former ruling New People's Liberation Movement (NPLM), and an independent legislator. He was defeated in snap elections held on 8 September 2009 and Reuben Meade was sworn in as new chief minister.