Hugh Gordon Cummins

Who was Hugh Gordon Cummins?

Dr. Hugh Gordon Hylvestra Cummins was a Barbadian politician. He served as Premier of Barbados from 17 April 1958 to 8 December 1961 and was a member of the Barbados Labour Party.

Dr. Cummins was a medical practitioner and one of the first Barbados Labour Party members of Parliament in 1940. In 1951 he together with Grantley Herbert Adams, Mencea Cox and Frank Walcott were appointed members of the Executive Committee of the BLP. He also became a Minister in 1954 when Ministerial Government was introduced. He became the second Premier of Barbados when Sir Grantley was elected Prime Minister of the West Indies Federation.

His outstanding achievement was the abolition of the Located Labourers Act and he is commemorated by the naming of the ABC Highway and the Gordon Cummins Hospital in St. Thomas, the constituency that he represented.