Dame Billie Antoinette Miller, DA, OCC (born 8 January 1944) is a Barbadian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister. Miller is a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).[1]
Early life and education
Billie Miller's father, the late Frederick Edward Miller, was himself a parliamentarian of distinction, holding the Ministerial portfolios of Health and Social Services from 1956 to 1961, while her mother Mildred Miriam (née Lashley) was a nurse.
She was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1968 and to the Bar of Barbados in 1969, becoming the island's first woman barrister.[2] She was a practising attorney from 1969 to 1976 and 1987–1994. She was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1994 within the government of Prime Minister Owen Arthur, and was also charged with the responsibility of Leader of the House of Assembly and MP for the constituency of the City of Bridgetown. She later gave up that post during a cabinet reshuffle after the 2003 elections, in which the BLP maintained power. In 1999 she has also headed the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
Miller began her political career in 1976 when she was elected Member of Parliament for the City of Bridgetown in a by-election. A few months later, she fought and won her seat again in the General Elections. She served as Minister of Health and National Insurance from 1976 to 1981 and was the first female to sit in the Cabinet of Barbados. Re-elected to Parliament in 1981, she was appointed Minister of Education with the Culture portfolio being added in 1985.
Following the 1986 General Elections when the Barbados Labour Party lost at the polls, she was appointed to the Senate where she served as Leader of Opposition Business. She was again elected Member for the City of Bridgetown in the General Elections of 1991, and served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 1993 to 1994. In September 1994, when the Barbados Labour Party was returned to government, Miller was re-elected as the member for the City of Bridgetown for the fourth time.
Roles and responsibilities
Very active in the civic and non-governmental arena, she has been Chairperson (the first woman) of the Executive of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Women in Development Unit; President of the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region; Vice–President of the Inter-American Parliamentary Group on Population and Development and President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States Council of Ministers. She was also a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Central Council and the UN Population Fund’s Advisory Panel of Activities Concerning Women.
Miller served as Chairperson of the NGO Planning Committee of the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, in Egypt in 1994. She has also served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Barbados Bar Association; Legal Adviser to Women in Action; and as a member of the Board of Directors of Life of Barbados Ltd; the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc.; Inter-American Dialogue; and on the Board of Trustees Of International Commentary Service.
She was a member of both the International Federation of Women Lawyers from 1975–1976 and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’s Advisor Group during 1990–1992.
Her recreational activities include reading, interior design and Ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arranging).
It was widely believed that Miller would eventually succeed Owen Arthur as leader of the BLP,[6] but Mottley succeeded Arthur as BLP leader in January 2008 after the party was voted out of power.
Zuniga, Nicholas, ed. (4 May 2017) [2015]. "Interview with Billie Miller". School of Advanced Study. U.K.: University of London. Institute of Commonwealth Studies. London. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
