Pindling, Lynden (Oscar) (1930–2000)

Bahamian politician, prime minister 1967–92. In the 1960s he became leader of the centrist Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), formed in 1953. Attracting support from the islands' demographically dominant black community, the PLP won the 1967 House of Assembly elections, the first to be held on a full adult voting register, and Pindling became the Bahamas' first black prime minister. He led the country to independence, within the British Commonwealth, in 1973 and successfully expanded the tourist industry, but accusations of government corruption grew in the 1980s and the PLP lost power in 1992. After further electoral defeat in 1997, Pindling retired as PLP leader.

The PLP had been re-elected in 1972, 1977, 1982 and 1987, but allegations of government complicity in drug trafficking and the receipt of ‘improper’ payments from developers contributed to their defeat in August 1992, with power passing to the Free National Movement (FNM), led by Hubert Ingraham.

Before entering politics as a member of the PNP, Pindling studied law in London, and returned to the Bahamas to work as a lawyer.