Chambers, George Michael (1930– )

Trinidad and Tobago centre-left politician, prime minister 1981–86. A member of the People's National Movement (PNM), he took over as PNM leader and prime minister after the sudden death of Eric Williams in 1981. During the early 1980s, with oil prices falling and state overinvestment in infrastructural projects, Chambers had to adopt stringent measures to restore economic stability. He also attacked corruption, which had plagued the PNM government in the 1970s, and pursued an independent foreign policy, being one of the few Caribbean leaders who did not support US military intervention in Grenada in 1983.

The PNM was defeated by the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), led by Arthur Robinson, in 1986, and Chambers was subsequently replaced as PNM leader by Patrick Manning.

Largely self-educated, Chambers worked as a legal clerk before entering politics as a member of the PNM. He entered parliament in 1966 with a huge majority and held a series of cabinet posts in the governments of Williams. Immensely popular, he increased the PNM's majority in the 1981 general election after succeeding Williams as prime minister.