Manning, Patrick Augustus Mervyn

Manning, Patrick Augustus Mervyn,

1946–, Trinidadian political leader, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago (1991–95, 2001–10), b. San Fernando. He entered politics in the 1960s while studying geology at the Univ. of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica. Returning to Trinidad in 1970, Manning became active in the People's National Movement (PNM) and was elected to parliament in 1971. He held various cabinet posts and in 1986 assumed leadership of the PNM in opposition. The 1991 elections brought the PNM back to power, with Manning as prime minister. The PNM lost to an opposition coalition headed by Basdeo Panday in 1995, but Manning and his party returned to power in 2001. Manning and the PNM remained in power after elections in 2002 and 2007 but were defeated in 2010 by Kamla Persad-Bissesar and the People's Partnership coalition. Manning has been an advocate of economic and political union for island nations of the E Caribbean. Following PNM's defeat in 2010, he resigned as party leader.