Compton, John George Melvin (1926–2007)

St Lucian centre-right politician, chief minister 1964–67 and prime minister 1967–79, 1982–96, and 2006–07 As leader of the new United Workers' Party (UWP), he became chief minister in 1964 and worked for independence from the British Empire. After St Lucia left the Windward Islands federation in 1967, he was redesignated prime minister, with the finance and planning portfolios, and guided the country to independence within the British Commonwealth in 1979. After three years in opposition to St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) governments, he returned to power in 1982, holding office until 1996. His government followed conservative, anti-communist and pro-Western policies. After a decade in retirement, he returned to politics to unexpectedly win the December 2006 election with the UWP, but died in office in September 2007.

Born in Canouan island, in the Grenadines (part of St Vincent and the Grenadines), he studied economics and law at the London School of Economics and worked as a barrister from 1951. Politically active from the mid-1950s, Compton entered the St Lucia Legislative Council in 1957 as a member of the SLP and served as trade and industry minister 1958–61. He left the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) to form the breakaway National Labour Movement in 1961.