Chambers, George

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Chambers, George

October 4, 1928
November 4, 1997

George Michael Chambers, the second prime minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, received his early education at Nelson Street Boys Roman Catholic School in Port of Spain, where he later attended Burke College and Osmond High School. He left school at an early age, taking up a job as an office boy in a solicitor's office. Later he pursued a correspondence course in general education from Wosley Hall, Oxford, and was employed in the legal department of a locally based foreign oil company.

He served as prime minister and political leader of the Peoples National Movement (PNM) from 1981 to 1986. Until his appointment as prime minister, he was the least known by the public among the three deputy political leaders of the party. This was for want neither of experience nor ability. For having first entered politics in 1966, he had served since 1971 as the member of parliament for the constituency of St. Ann and on the Central Executive and General Council of the party. He was appointed minister of public utilities and housing in 1969 and minister of national security in 1970. From 1971 to 1975 he held the portfolios of minister of finance and minister of planning and development. From 1976 to 1981 he served as minister of agriculture, lands, and fisheries, and as minister of industry and commerce.

The first general elections contested by the PNM under his leadership saw the party winning twenty-four of thirty-six seats, although largely out of respect for his predecessor, Eric Williams. It proved challenging to succeed the latter, who had died in his fourth consecutive term in office and had exerted unparalleled influence over the country. Many viewed Chambers as less formidable and charismatic, especially as his was a humble and unassuming style. Most critical of him were the opponents of the PNM, who made every effort to portray him as a simpleton, lacking in intellect and ability.

Still, during Chambers' short tenure as prime minister, his was a significant contribution to the development of the party and nation. One of his objectives was to promote greater productivity among a population that had become complacent, fortified by the proceeds of an earlier oil boom. Chambers introduced various belt-tightening measures to bring inflation and unemployment under control after the country's economy was negatively affected by falling oil prices during the early 1980s. Yet, he maintained the anti-imperialist position the PNM had taken since the March for Chaguaramas in 1961, refusing to implement certain recommendations of the International Monetary Fund and dismissing the organization as a group of meddlesome international civil servants. He was a firm believer in Caribbean integration. Yet in the aftermath of a bloody palace coup against the Maurice Bishop regime in Grenada, he held out for a policy of nonintervention, despite a decision by some Caribbean neighbors to support a U.S.-led invasion of that island.

Chambers' policies were located in neither right-wing nor left-wing politics but in what was politically pragmatic at the time. However, he had come to power at a difficult period in the nation's social and economic history when, despite the slump in international economic activity and declining oil revenues, the expectations of the mass of the people remained high. Consequently, his austerity measures left many disgruntled, and in the national elections of 1986 the PNM suffered a humiliating defeat under his leadership, losing the general elections for the first time in thirty years.

Following this defeat, Chambers resigned his post as political leader of the party and retired to an almost completely reclusive life, though reportedly many continued to seek his advice and expertise regarding political matters.

Since his death, Chambers' critics have been far more generous concerning his abilities. There is now widespread consensus that he was an extremely competent but grossly underrated administrator, with better than average ability, and one of the best finance ministers of Trinidad and Tobago.

See also Peoples National Movement (PNM)