Leader of the Opposition (Trinidad and Tobago)

The Leader of the Opposition (officially the Leader of the Opposition of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago) is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government.

Leader of the Opposition of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Coat of arms of Trinidad and Tobago
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago
Incumbent Pennelope Beckles-Robinson since 6 May 2025; 3 months ago (2025-05-06)
Official Opposition Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago Leader of the Opposition's Office
Style	The Honorable (formal) Leader of the Opposition (spoken)
Member of	House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago Shadow Cabinet
Reports to	Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago
Seat	Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Chloe Building, 11 Charles Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago[1]
Nominator	House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago
Appointer	President of Trinidad and Tobago
Term length	While leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago
Inaugural holder	Ashford Sastri Sinanan (Legislative Council) Rudranath Capildeo (Independent Parliament) Basdeo Panday (Republican Parliament)
Formation	31 August 1962; 62 years ago (1962-08-31)
Salary	TT$355,080 per annum (2019)[2]
Website	www.ttparliament.org/members.php?mid=24

The Leader of the Opposition is a member of the House of Representatives, and is appointed by the President of Trinidad and Tobago.

The current Leader of the Opposition is Pennelope Beckles-Robinson.

Leaders of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago

DLP (3)   ULF (2)   UNC (2)   PNM (3)   Independent (2)   PDP (1)
Opposition Leader[3]			Term of office Duration in years and days		Parliament	Party	Election	Head of Government Chief Minister (1950-1959) Premier (1959-1962) Prime Minister (1962-present)
No.	Portrait	Opposition Leader (birth–death) Constituency	Took office	Left office
1		Ashford Sastri Sinanan (1923–1994) Member for Victoria South	1951	1956	8th Legislative Council (1950–1956)	Independent	1950		Albert Gomes (1950–1956) as Chief Minister
		Bhadase Sagan Maraj (1920–1971) Member for Caroni North Acting Opposition Leaders during Maraj's term: A. P. T. James (1959) Simbhoonath Capildeo (1959-1961)	26 October 1956	21 September 1961	9th Legislative Council (1956–1961)	People's Democratic Party (1956-1957)	1956		Eric Williams (1956–1981) as Chief Minister (1956–1959), as Premier (1959–1962), as Prime Minister (1962–1981)
2			4 years, 330 days			Democratic Labour Party (1957-1961)
1		Rudranath Capildeo (1920–1970) MP for Saint Augustine (1961–1966) MP for Chaguanas (1966–1967) Acting Opposition Leaders during Capildeo's term: Ashford Sastri Sinanan (1962) Stephen Carpoondeo Maharaj (1963–1965) Simbhoonath Capildeo (1965) Vernon Jamadar (1965–1967)	29 December 1961	June 1967	1st Independent Parliament (1961–1966)	Democratic Labour Party	1961
					2nd Independent Parliament (1966–1967)		1966
			5 years, 4 months
2		Vernon Jamadar (1929–2002) MP for Oropouche	July 1967	1971	2nd Independent Parliament (1967–1971)	Democratic Labour Party	—
3		John R.F. Richardson (1926–2001)[4] MP for Point Fortin	21 July 1972	19 June 1976	3rd Independent Parliament (1972–1976)	Independent	1971[a]
			3 years, 334 days
4		Basdeo Panday (1933–2024) MP for Couva North	1976	1977	1st Republican Parliament (1976–1977)	United Labour Front	1976
5		Raffique Shah (born 1946) MP for Siparia	9 August 1977	31 March 1978	1st Republican Parliament (1977–1978)	United Labour Front	—
			234 days
(4)		Basdeo Panday (1933–2024) MP for Couva North	1978	1986	1st Republican Parliament (1978–1981)	United Labour Front	—
					2nd Republican Parliament (1981–1986)		1981		George Chambers (1981–1986)
6		Patrick Manning (1946–2016) MP for San Fernando East	1986	1990	2nd Republican Parliament (1986)	People's National Movement	1986		A. N. R. Robinson (1986–1991)
					3rd Republican Parliament (1987–1990)
(4)		Basdeo Panday (1933–2024) MP for Couva North	1990	6 November 1995	3rd Republican Parliament (1990–1991)	United National Congress	1991		Patrick Manning (1991–1995)
					4th Republican Parliament (1992–1995)
(6)		Patrick Manning (1946–2016) MP for San Fernando East	6 November 1995	24 December 2001	5th Republican Parliament (1995–2000)	People's National Movement	1995		Basdeo Panday (1995–2001)
					6th Republican Parliament (2001)		2000
			2 years, 109 days
(4)		Basdeo Panday (1933–2024) MP for Couva North	24 December 2001	26 April 2006	7th Republican Parliament (2002)	United National Congress	2001		Patrick Manning (2001–2010)
					8th Republican Parliament (2002–2006)		2002
			4 years, 123 days
7		Kamla Persad-Bissessar (born 1952) MP for Siparia	26 April 2006	8 November 2007	9th Republican Parliament (2007–2010)	United National Congress	2007
			1 year, 196 days
(4)		Basdeo Panday (1933–2024) MP for Couva North	8 November 2007	25 February 2010	9th Republican Parliament (2007–2010)	United National Congress	—
			2 years, 109 days
(7)		Kamla Persad-Bissessar (born 1952) MP for Siparia	25 February 2010	26 May 2010	9th Republican Parliament (2007–2010)	United National Congress	—
			90 days
8		Keith Rowley (born 1949) MP for Diego Martin West	26 May 2010	9 September 2015[5]	10th Republican Parliament (2010–2015)	People's National Movement	2010		Kamla Persad-Bissessar (2010–2015)
			5 years, 106 days
(7)		Kamla Persad-Bissessar (born 1952) MP for Siparia	9 September 2015	1 May 2025	11th Republican Parliament (2015–2020)	United National Congress	2015		Keith Rowley (2015–2025)
			5 years, 106 days		12th Republican Parliament (2020–2025)		2020		Stuart Young (2025)
9		Pennelope Beckles-Robinson (born 1961) MP for Arima	6 May 2025	Incumbent	13th Republican Parliament (2025–presen)	People's National Movement	2025		Kamla Persad-Bissessar (2025–present)
			98 days

See also

• Politics of Trinidad and Tobago
• President of Trinidad and Tobago
• List of prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago

Footnotes

1. Originally elected as MP for Point Fortin under the PNM in 1971, but became an independent in July 1972 and was appointed Leader of the Opposition, as thus he was the only non-PNM member of the House of Representatives, as the DLP had protested the 1971 election and only the PNM won.