Maxwell Monaghan
The Right Honourable Sir Maxwell Monaghan MP Bt | |
---|---|
Prime Minister of Kiribati-Tarawa | |
In office 17 March 1988 – 7 July 1993 | |
Monarch | Victor Emmanuel I Umberto IV |
Deputy | Eain McDowell |
Preceded by | Reginald Spicer |
Succeeded by | Iain McDowell |
Leader of the Labour Party | |
In office 4 April 1984 – 7 July 1993 | |
Preceded by | George Forewell |
Succeeded by | Aneurin Stratham |
Leader of the Opposition | |
In office 4 April 1984 – 17 March 1988 | |
Preceded by | George Forewell |
Succeeded by | Andre Torre |
Member of Parliament for Stafford and Oxcross | |
In office 2 May 1969 – 17 May 1998 | |
Preceded by | Charles Forthwright |
Succeeded by | Alan Risby |
Personal details | |
Born | Maxwell Stephen Douglas Monaghan 12 July 1917 Strathearn, County Dunway, Tarawa |
Died | 7 August 2008 (aged 91) |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse(s) | Vera Jamison (m. 1965) |
Alma mater | Galston College, Westminster |
Religion | Church of Tarawa |
Sir Maxwell Stephen Douglas Monaghan was a Tarawan Labour Party politician and former Prime Minister of Kiribati-Tarawa from 1988 to 1993). Elected as the Member of Parliament for Stafford and Oxcross in 1969, Monaghan rose through the ranks of the parliamentary Labour Party, eventually being chosen as leader of the party. He served as Leader of the Opposition and later Prime Minister following the Labour Party's victory in the 1988 general election.
His premiership is considered to be the apogee of Kiribati-Tarawan socialism and his highly controversial dismissal by King Victor Emmanuel I in 1993 at the height of an economic crisis triggered a constitutional crisis which threatened to terminate the Kiribatian monarchy. His legacy remains powerful within the Labour Party and Kiribatian socialist movement, as well as within the Tarawan nationalist movement, in which he is a venerated figure.