Rudyard Spencer

In 1993, Spencer was appointed to the Senate of Jamaica. From 1995 to 1997, he was the Leader of the Opposition Business in the Senate.^[1] From 2002 to 2020, he was a member of parliament for South East Clarendon.^[2] Spencer served as the Minister of Health in Jamaica from 2007 to 2012.^[3] In 2016, he was appointed as Minister of Finance and the Public Service. Spencer also directed the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions and was a member of the Caribbean Congress of Labour.^[1] In February 2020, Spencer announced his retirement from electoral politics.^[4] Members of both the JLP and the PNP paid tribute to Spencer for his years of service.^[5] While awaiting his appointment to the Jamaican embassy in Berlin, Germany, Spencer served as deputy chairman of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT).^[6]

In 1995, Spencer was awarded the Order of Distinction (Officer Class), and promoted to Commander Class in 2014 for "more than 20 years of distinguished service to parliament".^[1]