John Compton

Sir John George Melvin Compton, Template:Post-nominals (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007)<ref>Profile of John Compton</ref> was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first prime minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton served as prime minister three times: briefly in 1979, again from 1982 to 1996, and from 2006 until his death in 2007. He cofounded the conservative United Workers Party (UWP) in 1964; he led the party until 1996, again from 1998 to 2000, and again from 2005 to 2007.

Early life and education

Compton was born on 29 April 1925 in Canouan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.<ref name=Gov>CV Template:Webarchive at government website.</ref><ref name=Brandford>Albert Brandford, "People's servant to the end" Template:Webarchive, nationnews.com, 9 September 2007.</ref> In September 1939, he was taken to Saint Lucia.<ref name=Bio>Biography Template:Webarchive at government website.</ref> While studying law and economics, Compton attended the University College of Wales from 1948 to 1949 and the London School of Economics from 1949 to 1951;<ref name=Brandford/> he was called to the Bar on 7 August 1951.<ref name=Gov/>

Political career

Beginnings

Compton entered politics in 1954, successfully running for the Micoud/Dennery seat on the Saint Lucia Executive Council as an independent. He became the Council Member for Social Affairs in 1955,<ref name="Gov" /><ref name="Brandford" /> and served in this position until the Committee System was replaced by the Ministerial System in 1956.<ref name="Brandford" /> That same year, he joined the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP).<ref name="Gov" /> He participated in a sugar workers' strike in 1957, and was fined for obstructing roads.<ref name="Bio" /> Re-elected in 1957,<ref name="Brandford" /> Compton became Minister for Trade and Production in 1958;<ref name="Gov" /> he was also appointed deputy leader of the SLP<ref name="Brandford" /> under George Charles. In 1960 he was reappointed Minister of Trade and Industry when Charles became the first Chief Minister.<ref name="Bio" /> Although Compton was re-elected in 1961, he chose not to join the Executive Council. Objecting to the SLP's new ministers,<ref name="Brandford" /> he left the SLP instead and formed a new party, the National Labour Movement.<ref name="Gov" /><ref name="Brandford" />

In 1964, Compton merged the National Labour Movement with another opposition party, the People's Progressive Party, to form the United Workers' Party (UWP). This new party won the 1964 general election, making Compton the new Chief Minister.<ref name=Gov/><ref name=Brandford/>

Administration under British rule, 1964–1979

In office, Compton worked for Saint Lucia's independence from British rule.<ref name=Brandford/> When Saint Lucia became an Associated State of the United Kingdom on 1 March 1967, a move that placed the Saint Lucian government fully in charge of the island's internal affairs, Compton became St. Lucia's first and only Premier.<ref name=Const>"Constitutional development" Template:Webarchive, Saint Lucian government website.</ref> At the conference from April to May 1966 that led to this change,<ref name=Bio/> Compton sharply criticized the British government for excluding certain issues, and accused it of favoring "second-class citizenship for people of another color".<ref name="Obit">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1968, he married Barbara Janice Clarke, with whom he would have five children.<ref name=Gov/>

Following the UWP's victory in the 1974 election, Compton pushed for negotiations leading to independence,<ref name=Brandford/> which was achieved on 22 February 1979; Compton became the newly independent nation's first Prime Minister.<ref name=Brandford/><ref name=Const/>

As Prime Minister and in opposition, 1979–1996

A few months after independence in 1979, the UWP was defeated in an election by the SLP, and Compton became Leader of the Opposition.<ref name="caribel">Template:Cite web</ref> The SLP government collapsed in October 1982, and the UWP won the subsequent election in November 1982; Compton became Prime Minister again. He also held the additional portfolio of Minister of Finance, Planning and Development.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He remained in office until he retired in 1996; he was replaced by his chosen successor, Vaughan Lewis. Compton became a legal consultant.<ref name=Brandford/>

In office, Compton's policies were conservative, pro-Western and anti-communist. He also worked for increased regional integration: upon leaving office in 1996, he voiced disappointment that the region's population remained a "divided people scattered over the Caribbean Sea".<ref name=Obit/>

After 1996

He was re-elected as the leader of UWP in 1998,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> however, he was replaced as leader by Morella Joseph in 2000.<ref name="modhist">Template:Cite web</ref> Compton then joined George Odlum to form the National Alliance,<ref name="modhist" /> which did not have much success in the 2001 elections.

On 13 March 2005, the UWP elected Compton, then 80 years old, as its leader again at a party convention in Soufriere; he received 260 votes against 135 for Vaughan Lewis.<ref>"Ex-prime minister regains leadership of St Lucian opposition", Caribbean Media Corporation (Bridgetown), 14 March 2005.</ref>

During the 2006 general election season, Compton parried media concerns about his age and campaigned actively, commenting that it was different from preparing to run in the Olympics.<ref>Donna Sealy, "Pa Pa's journey" Template:Webarchive, The Nation (Barbados), 15 December 2006.</ref> Despite opinion polls forecasting another term for the incumbent St Lucia Labour Party, Compton led the UWP to victory on 11 December 2006.<ref name="Sworn">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Singh">Rickey Singh, "Upset in St Lucia", Jamaica Observer, 12 December 2007.</ref> He was elected to the seat from Micoud North over SLP candidate Silas Wilson.<ref name="Singh" /> He was sworn in as Prime Minister on 15 December.<ref name="Sworn" /> His cabinet was sworn in on 19 December, with Compton as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.<ref>Anselma Aimable, "St Lucia swears in new government ministers" Template:Webarchive, Caribbean Net News, 20 December 2006.</ref>

Illness and death

On 1 May 2007, Compton was hospitalized in New York City after suffering a series of strokes.<ref>Anselma Aimable, "St Lucia PM remains in New York hospital after stroke" Template:Webarchive, Caribbean Net News, 18 May 2007.</ref><ref>"Compton suffered series of strokes" Template:Webarchive, The Jamaica Gleaner, 16 May 2007.</ref> He fell ill while visiting a doctor for a normal checkup.<ref>"Lady Janice speaks publicly about her husband" Template:Webarchive, St. Lucia Star, 10 July 2007.</ref>

On 16 May, Sports Minister Leonard Montoute, who was also the deputy leader of the United Workers Party, announced that Compton was unable to stand or walk on his own, and that the cabinet was preparing to select a successor.<ref>"Sir John will no longer be Prime Minister" Template:Webarchive, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, 16 May 2007.</ref>

Compton returned to Saint Lucia on 19 May.<ref>"St. Lucia prime minister returns from U.S. following treatment for strokes", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 21 May 2007.</ref> He temporarily resumed power in early June to oversee a cabinet reshuffle, in which he remained Prime Minister but gave up the finance portfolio to Acting Prime Minister Stephenson King.<ref>Ernie Seon, "Sir John shakes up Cabinet" Template:Webarchive, Nationnews.com, 7 June 2007.</ref> King said on 8 June that Compton's condition was improving.<ref>"St. Lucian Prime Minister's health improves"Template:Dead link, Radiojamaica.com, 8 June 2007.</ref> On 11 July, he attended a meeting with several cabinet ministers, the first time he had done so since the strokes.<ref>"Sir John makes first public appearance" Template:Webarchive, cbc.bb, 11 July 2007.</ref>

In late July, it was announced that Compton would resign by the end of 2007.<ref>Rickey Singh, "Our Caribbean – A hobbled government in St Lucia" Template:Webarchive, Nationnews.com, 10 August 2007.</ref> On 26 August, Compton was admitted to the Tapion Hospital in Castries because he was having trouble breathing<ref name=Flies>"Sir John flies to Martinique for medical aid" Template:Webarchive, cbc.bb, 1 September 2007.</ref> due to pneumonia.<ref name=Speak>Kurt Reynolds, "Finally, Sir John's doctors speak!"Template:Dead link, St. Lucia Star, 10 September 2007.</ref> While there, it was learned that he had suffered another stroke while recovering from the previous strokes.<ref name=Flies/><ref name="Flown">Template:Cite web</ref> On 1 September, he was flown to Martinique for treatment<ref name=Flies/><ref name=Flown/><ref name=Address>"Address to the Nation By Acting Prime Minister Honourable Stephenson King on The Passing of Sir John Compton September 8, 2007" Template:Webarchive, Saint Lucian government website.</ref> of his pneumonia.<ref name=Speak/> While there, his condition worsened and he was placed on a ventilator. On 4 September, doctors decided that his condition was hopeless; on 5 September, he was returned to the Tapion Hospital in Saint Lucia to die.<ref name=Address/> He died there on 7 September 2007.<ref name=Obit/><ref name=Address/> Acting Prime Minister King declared two weeks of mourning, beginning on 8 September.<ref name=Address/>

A state funeral was held for Compton in Castries, at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, on 18 September.<ref>Anselma Aimable, "Final farewell to Sir John Compton in St Lucia"Template:Dead link, Caribbean Net News, 19 September 2007.</ref> Despite Compton's Anglican faith, the local Catholic church was used due to the large number of mourners<ref>"High honors paid to late prime minister as St Lucia bids final farewell", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 18 September 2007.</ref> and at the request of Sir John. The funeral services held in Micoud on 16 September and at the Minor Basilica on 18 September were in keeping with the requests of Sir John for his funeral service, including the hymns which were specifically requested by him. He was cremated on 19 September and his ashes spread in the Troumasse River at his estate in Mahaut upon his request.

The John Compton Dam in central Saint Lucia was renamed in his honor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life and family

In 1967 he married Janice Barbara Clarke the daughter of Saint Lucia's first Saint Lucian-born Governor, Sir Frederick Clarke. Out of this union, five children were born.

Compton's daughter Jeannine Compton-Antoine, a marine biologist, is director of the Saint Lucia National Trust, having previously followed her fathers footsteps into politics. In a by-election held on 26 November 2007, she won John Compton's constituency of Micoud North.<ref>"Daughter of St Lucia's former premier wins by-election", Caribbean Media Corporation (nl.newsbank.com), 27 November 2007.</ref> Daughter Fiona Compton is a Caribbean historian, artist and photographer who graduated from London College of Printing in 2005 with a BA in photography. She has worked for different UK publishing houses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Daughter Nina Compton is a James Beard Award-winning chef in the U.S., and television personality. In 2013, she participated in season 11 of the American reality cooking show Top Chef, where she was the runner-up and was voted the "fan favorite".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="caribbeanelections.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
• United Workers Party
• John Compton Dam

External links

• Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
• Obituary, The Guardian, 9 September 2007
• Obituary, The Times, 10 September 2007
• Biography available in Prime Ministers of Saint Lucia