Timothy Sylvester Harris was born on January 14, 1964 in Tabernacle, Saint Kitts and is the current Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, he previously served as the Foreign Minister from August 10, 2001 to January 25, 2013. Harris grew up in the rural village of Tabernacle and attended the Cayon High School and Basseterre High School before making his journey to six university campuses, two in the Caribbean and four in Canada to further his education.
In 1988, Harris graduated from the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies with a B.Sc. degree with a First Class Honours in Accounting being 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 to St Kitts- Nevis and worked for two years at a managerial level with S. L. Horsford and Co Ltd.
In 1990-92 he pursued his M.Sc. degree in Accounting at the St Augustine Campus of UWI in Trinidad and again excelled graduating at the top of the class with an M.Sc. degree with a Distinction in Accounting.
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, Mc Gill University and two French Universities H.E.C. and UQAM. Harris holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Administration majoring in Accounting.
Harris participated in elective politics in 1993 and since then won his seat on a St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party ticket, in each parliamentary elections held in 1995, 2000, 2004, and 2010. Dr Harris has served as: 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, Harris was relieved of his portfolio and terminated relations with the Labour Party. Harris then established the People’s Labour Party (PLP) later in the year. In the buildup to the 2015 general elections the PLP partnered with the People’s Action Movement and the Concerned Citizens’ Movement formed the Team Unity alliance. The alliance won the elections, and although the PLP won only one seat, Harris became the third Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis on 16 February 2015. He succeeded the incumbent Dr Denzil Douglas who served a historic 20 year tenure.
