People's National Movement

When Eric Williams returned to Trinidad in 1948 he set about developing a political base. Between 1948 and 1955 he delivered a series of political lectures, under the auspices of the Political Education Movement (PEM) a branch of the Teachers Education and Cultural Association. Naparima College is one of the locations at which such lectures were delivered. On 15 January 1956 Williams launched the PNM. In the 1956 General Elections the PNM captured 13 of the 24 elected seats in the Legislative Council with 38.7% of the votes cast. In order to secure an outright majority in the Legislative Council Williams managed to convince the Secretary of State for the Colonies to allow him to name the five appointed members of the council (despite the opposition of the Governor Sir Edward Betham Beetham). This gave him a clear majority in the Legislative Council. Williams was thus elected Chief Minister and was also able to get all seven of his ministers elected.

In the 1958 Federal Elections (which the PNM contested as part of the West Indies Federal Labour Party), it won four of the 10 Trinidad and Tobago seats with 47.4% of the vote. The Opposition Democratic Labour Party won the other six seats.

In the 1961 General Elections the PNM won 20 of 30 seats with 58% of the vote. With the collapse of the West Indian Federation the PNM led Trinidad and Tobago to independence on August 31, 1962.

In the 1966 General Elections the PNM won 24 of 36 seats with 52% of the vote. However economic and social discontent grew under PNM rule. This came to a climax in April 1970 with the Black Power Revolution. On April 13, PNM Deputy Leader and Minister of External Affairs A.N.R. Robinson resigned from the party and government. On the 20th facing a revolt by a portion of the Army in collusion with the growing Black Power movement, Williams declared a State of Emergency. By April 22 the mutineers had begun negotiations for surrender. Following this certain ministers were forced to resign including John O'Halloran, Minister of Industry and Gerard Montano, Minister of Home Affairs.

In the 1971 General Elections the PNM faced only limited opposition as the major opposition parties boycotted the election citing the use of voting machines. The PNM captured all 36 seats in the election, including eight that they carried unopposed. Additionally Williams split the post of Deputy Leader into three and appointed Kamaluddin Mohammed, Errol Mahabir and George Chambers to the position.

In 1972 J. R. F. Richardson crossed the floor and declared himself an Independent. He was subsequently appointed Leader of the Opposition. He was soon joined by another MP, Dr. Horace Charles.

In 1973 the PNM faced a major crisis. On September 28 Williams announced that he would not stand for re-election. This led to a race to succeed him as Political Leader of the party. By 18 November, 250 of 476 registered party groups had submitted nominations, 224 of them for Attorney General Karl Hudson-Phillips and 26 for Minister of Health, Kamaluddin Mohammed. Williams announced on 2 December that he would return as Political Leader and Hudson-Phillips was forced out of the party.

In 1976 the PNM won 24 of 36 seats with 54% of the vote. In March 1978 Hector McClean, Minister of Works, resigned from the party and government and declared himself an independent MP.

On 29 March 1981 Eric Williams died. Williams had maintained an iron grip over the party and forced all potential rivals out of the party. In the absence of a clear successor, President Ellis Clarke was left to choose the new Prime Minister from among the three Deputy Political Leaders of the party. Clarke appointed George Chambers Prime Minister in preference to Kamaluddin Mohammed and Errol Mahabir. Chambers was subsequently elected as Political Leader of the PNM and led the party to victory in the 1981 General Elections. The PNM won 26 of 36 seats and 52% of the vote.

It subsequently held on to power until 1986 when it was defeated by the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) under the leadership of A.N.R. Robinson. The PNM won three of 36 seats with 32% of the vote. Chambers resigned and was succeeded by Patrick Manning as Political Leader.

Patrick Manning, the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (1991–1995;2001-2010) and third leader of the People's National Movement

PNM's logo until December 2019.

When Manning became leader he promised a "new PNM" and purposely ignored the discredited old guard. He appointed Wendell Mottley, Keith Rowley and Augustus Ramrekersingh as his deputy leaders.

The PNM was returned to power in the 1991 elections after the NAR self-destructed. In the 1991 election it won 21 of 36 seats with 45% of the vote. However, in the latter half of that term the party became unstable. It lost one seat in a by-election and another when Ralph Maraj defected to the United National Congress. The issue that led Maraj to defect was the declaration of a limited State of Emergency which sole purpose was to remove Occah Seepaul (Maraj's sister) as Speaker of the House of Representatives. The party also suffered a loss of support with the death Minister of Public Utilities, Morris Marshall, a favourite of the party grassroots. Attempting to halt the decline in party support Manning called an early "snap election" in 1995 . Many party front-benchers did not seek reelection including Finance Minister Wendell Mottley.

The party lost the 1995 General Elections winning 17 of 36 seats with 48% of the vote. The United National Congress (UNC) under the leadership of Basdeo Panday also won 17 seats and formed a coalition government with the National Alliance for Reconstruction which had won the remaining 2 seats. The PNM was further weakened when two MPs resigned from the party and threw their support behind the UNC government. This led to numerous calls for Manning to resign the party leadership, and for calls for Mottley to replace him. Manning declined to resign and Mottley appeared to have taken a sabbatical from politics. When leadership elections were held in 1997 Manning was challenged by Keith Rowley. Manning was returned as Political Leader.

In 2000 the PNM suffered another defeat, winning 16 of 36 seats with 46% of the vote. Another election was held in 2001 which resulted in a tie with both the PNM and UNC winning 18 seats, the PNM with 46% of the electoral vote and the UNC with 50%. However President Arthur N.R. Robinson appointed Manning as Prime Minister on the basis of "moral and spiritual grounds".(In Trinidad and Tobago's elections, the number of seats needed to occupy the lower house is really the best indicator of whether or not a party would win elections). Unable to elect a Speaker, Manning advised the President to prorogue Parliament. On 7 October 2002 General Elections were held in which the PNM won 50.7% of popular votes and 20 out of 36 seats.

Keith Rowley, the seventh Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (2015-present) and fourth leader of the People's National Movement

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The political leaders of the People's National Movement have been as follows (any acting leaders indicated in italics):

Key:
  PNM   UNC   NAR
  NAR PM: Prime Minister
LO: Leader of the Opposition
†: Died in office

Leader			Term of Office		Position	Prime Minister
1	Eric Williams		22 June 1955	29 March 1981†	PM 1955–1981		himself
2	George Chambers		30 March 1981[31]	8 February 1987	PM 1981–1986		himself
3	Patrick Manning		8 February 1987	27 May 2010	LO 1986–1991		Robinson
					PM 1991–1995		himself
					LO 1995–2001		Panday
					PM 2001–2010		himself
4	Keith Rowley		27 May 2010	Incumbent	LO 2010–2015		Persad-Bissessar
					PM 2015–present		himself

The deputy political leaders of the People's National Movement have been as follows (any acting leaders indicated in italics):

Deputy Leader			Term		Concurrent Office(s)	Deputy Leader			Term		Concurrent Office(s)	Deputy Leader			Term		Concurrent Office(s)	Deputy Leader			Term		Concurrent Office(s)	Leader(s)
	A. N. R. Robinson[32] (1926-2014) MP for Tobago East		1967	1970																					Williams
	George Chambers (1928-1997) MP for St. Ann's East		1971	30 March 1981			Errol Mahabir (1931-2015) MP for San Fernando West		1971				Kamaluddin Mohammed (1927-2015)MP for Barataria		1971
	Keith Rowley (born 1949) MP for Diego Martin West		1987	1995			Wendell Mottley (born 1941) MP for St. Ann's East						Augustus Ramrekersingh (born )MP for St. Joseph				Minister of Education		William McKenzie (born ) (Tobago) AM for Buccoo/Lambeau		1980	2001			Manning
	Joan Yuille-Williams (born ) (party and elections)		1996[33]	Incumbent	Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs		Kenneth Valley (1948-2011) MP for Diego Martin Central						Nafeesa Mohammed (born )		1997	2011	Opposition Senator		Orville London (born 1945[34])(Tobago) AM for Scarborough/ Calder Hall		2001	3 July 2016
							Rohan Sinanan (born ) (policy)			Incumbent	Minister of Works and Transport Government Senator		Marlene McDonald (born ) (legislation) MP for Port of Spain South			13 August 2019	Minister of Public Administration Minister of Public Utilities Minister of Housing and Urban Development Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs
																									Rowley
													Fitzgerald Hinds (born )(legislation) MP for Laventille West		10 November 2019	Incumbent	Minister in the Attorney General’s Ministry		Kelvin Charles (born 1957[35])(Tobago) AM for Black Rock/Whim/Spring Garden		3 July 2016	26 January 2020
																			Tracy Davidson-Celestine (born ) (Tobago)		26 January 2020	Incumbent	Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to Costa Rica

Tobago Council leaders

See also: Tobago Council of the People's National Movement

The deputy political leaders who additionally served as the political leaders of the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement have been as follows (any acting leaders indicated in italics):

Key:
  PNM   NAR
MaL: Majority Leader
MiL: Minority Leader
†: Died in office

Leader			Term		Position	Chief Secretary
1	William McKenzie		1980	2001	MiL 1980–2001		A. N. R. Robinson (as Chairman)
							Jefferson Davidson (as Chairman)
							Lennox Denoon (as Chairman)
							Hochoy Charles
2	Orville London		2001	3 July 2016	MaL 2001–2017		himself
3	Kelvin Charles		3 July 2016	26 January 2020	MaL 2017–2020		himself
4	Tracy Davidson-Celestine		26 January 2020 (Elected)	Incumbent			Kelvin Charles
							Ancil Dennis

Tobago has its own PNM party with separate memberships, constituency associations, executives, offices and a political leader.

Party		Leader	Last election			Government
			Year	Votes (%)	Seats
			2017	54.7	10 / 12	Majority government
	Tobago Council of the PNM	Tracy Davidson-Celestine

• Tobago Council of the People's National Movement
• 2020 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election

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