Allan Louisy

Who was Allan Louisy?

Sir Allan Fitzgerald Laurent Louisy, KCMG, PC was the second prime minister of independent St Lucia, following Sir John Compton in office. He was born in Laborie on 5 September 1916 and served as a judge before being elected to parliament in 1974.

In the 1979 general elections, Louisy became Prime Minister following the Saint Lucia Labour Party victory.

Before the elections, he had made a secret pact to hand over power to fellow representative George Odlum within the first six months in power, a deal he broke following pressure from US officials and other allies. This resulted in a split in the Labour Party, provoking a crisis in 1981. He chose to step down. He was succeeded as Prime Minister not by Odlum, but by his attorney-general, Winston Cenac. Odlum went on to create his own party, the short-lived Saint Lucia Progressive Labour Party. The SLP lost the subsequent 1982 election to Compton's UWP.

Louisy retired from politics and withdraw to his home in Saphyr Estate, Laborie. He was knighted on 31 March 2005.

He died on 2 March 2011 at home.