Name Loretta Butler-Turner | ||
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Loretta butler turner speaking on the effects of hurricane joaquin
Loretta Butler-Turner is a Bahamian mortician and politician for the Free National Movement (FNM) and was the Leader Of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Bahamian Parliament from December 2016 to May 2017. She was the first female in The Bahamas to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in mortuary sciences and became the first female embalmer and mortuary director in the country. In 2016 she became the first female to be appointed Leader of Opposition in the Bahamas. In 2007, she was elected as a Member of Parliament, serving initially for the Montagu Constituency and in 2012 was elected for the Long Island Constituency. She also served as Vice President of the Inter-American Commission of Women from 2009 to 2011.
Contents
- Loretta butler turner speaking on the effects of hurricane joaquin
- Honourable loretta butler turner mp contribution 2014 15 mid year budget debate
- Biography
- References
Honourable loretta butler turner mp contribution 2014 15 mid year budget debate
Biography
Loretta Butler-Turner was born in Nassau, The Bahamas to Rose Marie Taylor and Raleigh Butler, who was the son of the first Bahamian Governor-General, Milo Butler. She attended primary and secondary school at St. Andrews in Nassau and was the first Bahamian female to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in mortuary sciences. She graduated summa cum laude from the New England Institute of Mortuary Science.
Butler-Turner was the first female mortuary director and embalmer in The Bahamas, following in her father's business, Butlers’ Funeral Homes and Crematorium of Nassau. She has provided services for several notable deaths, particularly the death of Aaliyah and Daniel Wayne Smith, son of Anna Nicole Smith.
In 2007, she was elected to parliament from the Montagu Constituency and was appointed Minister of State for Social Development in the Ministry of Labour and Social Development. When Jeanette Carrillo Madrigal of Costa Rica resigned her position as Vice President of the Inter-American Commission of Women in November, 2009, Butler-Turner completed the remainder of the term, which ended in 2011. In 2012, Butler-Taylor ran for the parliamentary seat of the Long Island Constituency, was elected and was appointed as Minister of the Department of Social Services. That same year, she was chosen as the Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement (FNM) and ran for the party leadership in 2014. She was defeated by Hubert Minnis and Peter Turnquest, replaced her as Deputy Leader. In December 2016, Butler-Turner was sworn in as the first woman Opposition Leader in the Bahamas history. Four days later, Butler came under fire from her predecessor, Hubert Minnis who vowed to have her leadership rescinded.
In April 2017, she was thrown out of the party and ran as an independent in the general election the following month. She received less than 300 votes, thus ending her parliamentary career.
