The introduction of universally free secondary education was a major step in removing the institutional barriers to private sector and preferred government jobs that required secondary diplomas. In 1974, Manley proposed free education from primary school to university. In 1974, the PNP under Manley adopted a political philosophy of Democratic Socialism. Under Manley, Jamaica established a minimum wage for all workers, including domestic workers. In this regard he started a fashion revolution, often preferring the Kariba suit, a type of formal bush-jacket suit with trousers and worn without a shirt and tie. Unlike his father, who had a reputation for being formal and businesslike, the younger Manley moved easily among people of all strata and made Parliament accessible to the people by abolishing the requirement for men to wear jackets and ties to its sittings. Although he was a Jamaican from an elite family, Manley's successful trade union background helped him to maintain a close relationship with the country's poor majority, and he was a dynamic, popular leader.
He instituted a series of socio-economic reforms that produced mixed results. In the 1972 Jamaican general election, Manley defeated the unpopular incumbent Prime Minister, Hugh Shearer of the Jamaica Labour Party, as his People's National Party swept to a landslide victory with 37 of 53 seats. He then served as leader of the Opposition, until his party won in the general elections of 1972. Īfter his father's retirement in 1969, Manley was elected leader of the People's National Party, defeating Vivian Blake. He won election to the Jamaican House of Representatives for the Central Kingston constituency in 1967. However, in 1962, he accepted an appointment to the Senate of the Parliament of Jamaica. When his father was elected premier of Jamaica in 1955, Manley resisted entering politics, not wanting to be seen as capitalizing on his family name. In August 1953, he became a full-time official of that union. At about the same time, he became involved in the trade union movement, becoming a negotiator for the National Workers Union. He graduated in 1949, and returned to Jamaica to serve as an editor and columnist for the newspaper Public Opinion. At the LSE, he was influenced by Fabian socialism and the writings of Harold Laski. In 1945, he enrolled at the London School of Economics. He attended the Antigua State College and then served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. Patterson.Michael Manley was the second son of premier Norman Washington Manley and artist Edna Manley. He succeeded his father as People’s National Party president in 1969.Ĭiting health reasons, Manley quit as prime minister March 28, 1992, and was succeeded by P.J. Manley was given an appointed senator’s seat in 1962 and was elected to parliament in 1967. In the early 1950s, he became involved in Jamaica’s trade union movement. He obtained an economics degree at the London School of Economics and spent a year as a freelance journalist for the British Broadcasting Corp. The future prime minister graduated from Jamaica College in 1943 and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force until the end of World War II. 10, 1924, the son of Norman Washington Manley, who founded Jamaica’s social democratic People’s National Party, and Edna Swithenbank, a noted sculptor. Manuel Antonio Noriega had “raped democracy,” but he told Quayle that he disagreed with the invasion because the United States had to respect the sovereignty of other nations.Ĭharismatic, tall and handsome, Manley was a powerful orator often called “Joshua,” after the Old Testament prophet.