{{Short description|Former Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis}} {{for-multi|the historian of 17th-century Britain|Timothy J. G. Harris|the American author|Timothy Harris (writer)|other people|Timothy Harris (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Timothy Harris | image = Timothy Harris 2019.jpg | caption = Harris in 2019 | office = 3rd Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis | monarch = Elizabeth II | governor-general = Edmund Lawrence<br />Tapley Seaton | term_start = 18 February 2015 | term_end = 6 August 2022 | deputy = Shawn Richards (2015–2022)<br/>Eugene Hamilton (2022)<ref>{{cite web |title=SKNVibes {{!}} PM Harris fires six Government Ministers |url=https://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/118955 |website=www.sknvibes.com}}</ref> | predecessor = Denzil Douglas | successor = Terrance Drew | office1 = Minister of Finance | prime_minister1 = Denzil Douglas | term_start1 = November 2008 | term_end1 = February 2010 | predecessor1 = Denzil Douglas | successor1 = Denzil Douglas | term_start2 = February 2015 | term_end2 = August 2022 | predecessor2 = Denzil Douglas | successor2 = Terrance Drew | office3 = Minister of Foreign Affairs | prime_minister3 = Denzil Douglas | term_start3 = 10 August 2001 | term_end3 = 25 January 2008 | predecessor3 = Sam Condor | successor3 = Denzil Douglas | office4 = Member of Parliament | term_start4 = 1995 | term_end4 = | predecessor4 = | successor4 = | constituency4 = Saint Christopher #7 | birth_name = Timothy Sylvester Harris | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|12|6|df=y}} | birth_place = {{nowrap|Tabernacle, <br> Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla}} | death_date = | death_place = | party = Labour Party {{small|(Before 2013)}}<br />People's Labour Party<br />{{small|(2013–present)}} | other_party = Team Unity {{small|(2013–2022)}} | alma_mater = University of the West Indies at Cave Hill<br />University of the West Indies at St. Augustine<br />McGill University<br />Concordia University<br />University of Quebec at Montreal<br />University of Montreal }} '''Timothy Sylvester Harris''' (born 6 December 1964) is a Kittitian politician who served as the third prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 2015 to 2022. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 August 2001 to 25 January 2008, as Minister of Finance from 2008 to 2010,<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Kitts and Nevis: Gabinete / Cabinet |url=https://pdba.georgetown.edu/Executive/Kitts/cabinet.html |website=pdba.georgetown.edu}}</ref> and as Senior Minister and Minister for Agriculture from 2010 to 2013. Originally affiliated with the Labour Party, he founded and has served as leader of the People's Labour Party since 2013.
== Early life and education == Harris grew up in the village of Tabernacle, Saint Kitts. He attended the Cayon High School and Basseterre High School before going to six university campuses, two in the Caribbean and four in Canada. In 1988, Harris graduated from the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill with a B.Sc. degree with a First Class Honours in Accounting, the only graduate of the B.Sc. Accounting programme to obtain this distinction. He also received the Victor Crooke Prize for Best Accounting Student. He returned home and worked for two years at managerial level with S. L. Horsfords and Co Ltd.
In 1990–92 he pursued his M.Sc. degree in accounting at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago. He graduated top of the class with an M.Sc. degree with a Distinction.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2018-10-10|title=University of the West Indies honours two Federation officials|url=https://www.thestkittsnevisobserver.com/university-of-the-west-indies-honours-two-federation-officials/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-19|website=The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer|language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2001 Harris successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. The doctoral programme is a joint Ph.D. programme involving Concordia University, McGill and two francophone universities: H.E.C. (affiliated to Université de Montréal) and UQAM. Harris holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in administration majoring in accounting.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Harris|first=Timothy|title=Exploring the potentialities of value-for-money audit: an investigation of its impact on management controls, accountability, performance, and a test of legitimacy theory|publisher=John Molson School of Business, Concordia University|year=2001|isbn=|location=Montreal|pages=|type=PhD Thesis|oclc=896681248}}</ref>
== Political career ==
Harris first participated in elected politics in 1993 when he was elected as a Member of Parliament on the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party ticket for the St Christopher #7 constituency. He was re-elected as a Labour MP in the 1995, 2000, 2004, and 2010 elections. He held various cabinet posts, including Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Housing, Minister of Education, Labour and Social Security, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Education and Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, Industry and Commerce. He has published several works and received several awards, including the St. Kitts Youth Council Award for Excellence in Education, the FESTAB Community Award for outstanding contribution to FESTAB and a certificate for outstanding contribution to the Cayon High School.
In 2013, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas fired Harris from the cabinet.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2013-01-25|title=Prime Minister revokes appointment of Senior Minister|url=http://www.cuopm.com/?p=5781|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223201208/http://www.cuopm.com/?p=5781|archive-date=2014-02-23|access-date=2021-01-19|website=Office of the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis}}</ref> Harris established the People's Labour Party (PLP) later in the year. In September 2013, the PLP also formed the Team Unity alliance with the People's Action Movement and the Concerned Citizens' Movement, with Harris being named the leader of the alliance. At the 2015 general election, Team Unity's member parties did not run against each other and closely co-operated with one another. This resulted in the Team Unity alliance successfully winning a majority, with seven out of eleven available constituencies. Although Harris was the only PLP candidate elected meaning the PLP had just one MP, he became the third Prime Minister of independent St. Kitts and Nevis on 16 February 2015, succeeding Labour incumbent Denzil Douglas, who had served a historic near 20-year tenure.
Harris again lead the Team Unity alliance into the 2020 general election, with the PLP gaining a seat and Team Unity winning an increased number of seats, with nine of eleven MPs. He was re-elected as an MP and remained as Prime Minister, with Team Unity once again forming government. In 2022, disagreements between the CCM and PAM party leaders with Harris resulted in him dissolving parliament and firing six cabinet members, with a snap election being called.<ref name=Dixon>{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Loshaun |date=27 May 2022 |title=Team Unity: How it started, where it went wrong | url=https://www.thestkittsnevisobserver.com/team-unity-how-it-started-where-it-went-wrong/ |access-date=24 August 2025 |website=The St Kitts Nevis Observer}}</ref> At the 2022 snap general election, Team Unity was dissolved and Harris led the PLP as a standalone party for the first time, with the party fielding candidates across all of the Saint Kitts constituencies. Harris was re-elected as an MP, but Labour won a majority, meaning Harris was returned to the opposition.
==Honours== * {{flag|Taiwan}}: **70px Special Grand Cordon of the Order of Propitious Clouds (2019)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wen |first1=Yu-chen |last2=Chung |first2=Kuei-hsiang |title=President Tsai decorates St. Christopher and Nevis prime minister |url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201904160012.aspx |access-date=16 April 2019 |agency=Central News Agency |date=16 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Su |first1=Yung-yao |last2=Chung |first2=Jake |title=Saint Kitts prime minister in Taipei to improve ties |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/04/17/2003713542 |access-date=16 April 2019 |work=Taipei Times |date=16 April 2019}}</ref><ref name="officeofthepresident">{{cite web|url=https://english.president.gov.tw/Page/103|title=Decorations of the Republic of China (Taiwan)|access-date=4 April 2020|website=Office of the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)|quote=2019-4-16 St. Christopher and Nevis Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon Prime Minister Timothy Sylvester Harris}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{commons category-inline}} * {{wikiquote-inline}} * [http://www.gov.kn St. Kitts & Nevis] - Government of St. Kitts and Nevis official website * [https://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/saintkittsandnevis-e.pdf United Nations] - Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations Statement by His Excellency Dr. Timothy Harris
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Sam Condor}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of Foreign Affairs|years=2001–2008}} {{s-aft|after=Denzil Douglas}} |- {{s-bef|before=Denzil Douglas}} {{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis|years=2015–2022}} {{s-aft|after=Terrance Drew}} |- {{s-ppo}} {{s-new|party}} {{s-ttl|title=Leader of the People's Labour Party|years=2013–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{StKNevisPMs}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Timothy}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:People from Saint John Capisterre Parish Category:Recipients of the Order of Propitious Clouds Category:Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party politicians Category:People's Labour Party politicians Category:University of the West Indies alumni Category:Prime ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Foreign ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Agriculture ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Education ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Ministers of finance of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Housing ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Industry ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Labour ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Trade ministers of Saint Kitts and Nevis