Political Career


In 1962 Michael Manley was appointed to the Jamaica Senate. Five years later he was elected Member of Parliament for Central Kingston. He was elected Vice President of the PNP in 1967 and President in 1969. Following his attainment of the presidency, he was appointed Leader of the Opposition.

Michael Manley served as Prime Minister of Jamaica for 11 years. He led the PNP to victory in three general elections (1972, 1976 and 1989) but lost the 1980 general election. His tenure as the country's political leader was noted for its array of social and legislative reforms. These included the establishment of a national minimum wage, maternity leave with pay, the right of workers to join trade unions, the repeal of the Masters and Servants Act, the establishment of a National Housing Trust and the introduction of a bauxite levy, a land reform programme, a national literacy programme, and a Status of Children Act which ended discrimination against children born out of wedlock. He vigorously promoted education at all levels, cooperative development, worker participation, and national and community self-reliance.

At the international level, his was a highly respected voice, especially in such bodies as the Commonwealth of Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries, the Group of 77, and the Socialist International. He was a leading advocate of South-South cooperation and was in the vanguard of world statesmen who applied international pressure to assist in the dismantling of apartheid and of minority rule in southern Africa.

In 1977, because of his consistent advocacy of a New International Economic Order with a more equitable deal for developing countries, Manley was elected Vice President of Socialist International. As a distinguished leader of the organisation, he chaired the Socialist International Economic Committee. The findings of that committee were later published in 1985 as Manley's fifth book, Global Challenge: From Crisis to Cooperation: Breaking the North-South Stalemate. The Socialist International made him its honorary President in 1992, a position he held until his death on March 6, 1997.