Sharon Hay-Webster
| Sharon Hay-Webster | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for South Central St. Catherine |
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In office 1997–2012 |
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| Preceded by | Heather Robinson |
| Succeeded by | Denise Daley |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Jamaican |
| Political party | Jamaica Labour Party (formerly a member of the People's National Party) |
| Alma mater | University of the West Indies |
Sharon Hay-Webster (born 29 September 1961) is a Jamaican politician. She was a member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Jamaica 1997 to 2012, representing People's National Party. She came to international attention after the 2004 Haitian coup d'état, when she escorted Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his temporary exile in the Central African Republic to Jamaica at the invitation of then-Prime Minister of Jamaica P. J. Patterson.
Hay-Webster's third term in parliament was marred by a controversy over her citizenship in the United States, leading her to announce in 2009 that she would renounce her U.S. citizenship. However, in 2011 it came to light through the United States diplomatic cables leak that she had withdrawn her application for renunciation, meaning she remained a U.S. citizen. As the ongoing controversy heated up, Hay-Webster resigned from the PNP, and her former party called for her to step down from her parliamentary seat as well. Her resignation from the PNP made her only the third independent politician in 19 years to sit in parliament. Hay-Webster joined the Jamaica Labour Party in November 2011 before losing her seat in parliament in the 2011 Jamaican general election.
Prior to entering politics. Hay-Webster was a lecturer at the University of Technology, Jamaica. She had also worked as an employee of the Social Development Commission, then part of the Ministry of Youth and Community Development. The man who would become her husband initially opposed her ambition to become a politician. She first ran for election in 1997 under the PNP banner, easily beating Jamaica Labour Party candidate Tom Tavares Finson to win the race in the South Central St. Catherine constituency, succeeding PNP incumbent Heather Robinson. The seat itself was a long-time PNP stronghold, having previously been held by Ripton McPherson and then Derrick Heaven. She was returned to her seat in the 2002 elections, part of a widespread PNP victory which saw them retain their parliamentary majority for a record fourth straight term.
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