Marie-Josephine Mara Thompson is a Saint Lucian-born Barbadian politician, educator and widow of the sixth Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson, who died in office on October 23, 2010.
Background
Thompson was born Marie-Josephine Mara Giraudy in Saint Lucia on October 4, 1961, to Monica and Henry Giraudy. Her father, Henry Giraudy Queen's Counsel, was a prominent Saint Lucian lawyer and politician, who was nicknamed "The Chairman" due to his high position within the United Workers Party (UWP).
Education
Thompson attended school at Street Joseph’s Convent in Castries, Saint Lucia. From 1986 to 1988, and obtained a Master of Science in physical education. Thompson also hold a certificate in paralegal education from Barbados Community College, which she attended from 2005 to 2007.
Career
Personal life
Henry Giraudy served as the President of the Senate of Saint Lucia at one point. She was a student at the University of Western Ontario from 1979 to 1983, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in physical education. She then enrolled at Howard University in Washington District of Columbia Thompson and her family reside in Mapps, Saint Philip.
Mara Thompson taught physical education at schools throughout the Caribbean and the United States between 1986 and 2005.
She served on the faculties of the Owl School in Washington District of Columbia The Immaculate Conception High & Preparatory Schools located in Kingston, Jamaica.
Castries Comprehensive Secondary School in Saint Lucia. The Christ Church Foundation School and the Combermere School, both in Barbados. She worked as a paralegal at her husband"s law firm, Thompson & Associates, after receiving her paralegal certificate in 2007.
2011 election
David Thompson, the leader of the Democratic Labour Party, became the Prime Minister of Barbados on January 16, 2008, succeeding Owen Arthur.
He died in office of pancreatic cancer on October 23, 2010, at the family"s home in Mapps, Street Philip. David Thompson had held since the Saint John seat since 1987, succeeding the late Prime Minister Errol Barrow, who also died in office.
The Saint John is considered to be a stronghold for Thompson"s Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Thompson made her first political speech as a candidate on January 6, 2011, in the village of Gall Hill, Christ Church parish.
Owen Arthur, the former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Barbados Labour Party attempted to make Thompson"s Saint Lucian origins an issue in the election.
Arthur was criticized for the move by Barbadian Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Saint Lucian Prime Minister Stephenson King and Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. She performed better than David Thompson did in the 2008 general election, when he secured approximately 4,300 votes in the constituency.