Christine Kangaloo
President of Trinidad and Tobago since 2023
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Christine Carla Kangaloo ORTT (born 1 December 1961) is a Trinidadian lawyer and politician who is serving as the President of Trinidad and Tobago since 2023.[3] Upon succeeding Paula-Mae Weekes on 20 March 2023, she became the first woman in the Americas to succeed another woman as Head of State.[4][5] Globally, she is the second woman to achieve this feat in a parliamentary republic, following Ireland's Mary McAleese, who succeeded Mary Robinson in 1997.[6] Additionally, she is the first woman of Indian ancestry to serve as a president of a country in the Americas.[7][8]
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Stuart Young
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Paula-Mae Weekes
Christine Kangaloo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kangaloo in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7th President of Trinidad and Tobago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 20 March 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keith Rowley Stuart Young Kamla Persad-Bissessar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Paula-Mae Weekes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6th President of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 23 September 2015 – 17 January 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Anthony Carmona Paula-Mae Weekes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keith Rowley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Raziah Ahmed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nigel de Freitas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 December 1961[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Independent (since 2025)[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other political affiliations | People's National Movement (2001–2015) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Kerwyn Garcia (m. 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prior to her presidency, Kangaloo had an extensive career in public service and the legal profession. She served as an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court (1992–1996) before entering Parliament as an Opposition Senator in 2001.[9] She subsequently held multiple ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Legal Affairs (2005–2007) and Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education (2007–2010), and served as the Member of Parliament for Pointe-à-Pierre.[10]
Biography
Christine Kangaloo was born into a Presbyterian Indo-Trinidadian family to Carlyle and Barbara Kangaloo and she is the fifth of their seven children.[1][11][12] In 2018, she and her husband converted to Roman Catholicism.[13] She graduated from the University of the West Indies and Hugh Wooding Law School and with a degree in law. Christine Kangaloo began her legal career in 1985, working alongside her father, Carlyle at his law firm in San Fernando, Trinidad.[14] Their professional partnership continued until his passing in 1996.[14]
Political career
On 12 January 2001, she first became a member of parliament as an opposition senator under the tenure of Opposition Leader Patrick Manning.[15] She then served as Vice President of the Senate and subsequently Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister in 2002. She was then appointed Minister of Legal Affairs in 2005.[16][17] In the 2007 Trinidad and Tobago general election, she was elected to the House of Representatives as the People's National Movement (PNM) candidate for Pointe-à-Pierre and served as the Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education.[18][19] On 23 September 2015 she was elected as President of the Senate.[20]
She was president of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 until her resignation to run for president in 2023. She is the only person to serve as President and Vice President of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago and President of the Republic, the first woman to serve as Senate Vice President and third woman to serve as acting President of Trinidad and Tobago and Senate President. She became the second woman to serve as President of Trinidad and Tobago upon her assumption of office on 20 March 2023.[21][22][23] During her tenure as President of the Senate (2015–2023), she acted as President of the Republic on 33 separate occasions before being formally elected to the office by the Electoral College on 20 January 2023.[4][24][9]
