Role: Senator

Official Title: Minister of State with Responsibility for Tourism, Culture, and Sport

Biography: Richard Oliver Skerritt, more affectionately known as “Ricky”, became Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism, Sports & Culture in 2004 following the October general elections of the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis.

Throughout his distinguished life and career, Minister Skerritt has been heavily involved in varied pursuits related to his current position. He began his working life as a science teacher at his alma mater, the Basseterre High School, where he excelled in sports and academia. Mr Skerritt subsequently held top positions in private enterprise on St. Kitts, such as: Delisle Walwyn & Co. Ltd - a leading travel and tourism company, Blue Water Safaris, the Ocean Terrace Inn Group of Companies and the St. Kitts Bottling Co., Ltd. Prior to his Ministerial appointment, he was the first full time Manager of the West Indies Cricket Team; cricket being a sport he had been affiliated with at all levels for over twenty years. It is therefore no surprise that Ricky has been instrumental in attracting international cricket at the highest level to St. Kitts and Nevis, which was a host venue for the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup(ICC CWC) 2007.

Ricky has devoted much of his time to the community building up an impressive resume of service along the way. He has served as a Member of the St. Kitts-Nevis Carnival Committee, Chairman of the Sponsorship Committee for the St. Kitts Music Festival, President of the Rotary Club of St. Kitts & Nevis, Co-founder and Chairman of the Foundation for National Development (FND), Vice President of the Caribbean Association of Industry & Commerce (CAIC), Honorary Consul for Italy and President of the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Ricky has contributed much to the attraction of private investment and the overall economic development of St. Kitts & Nevis and continues to do so in his current position. In the process he has proven himself to be a dynamic entrepreneurial leader with a passion for excellence and a love for his country. “The one thing you would see common for everything I have done is a love for St. Kitts & Nevis and the Caribbean”, says Richard “Ricky” Skerritt.

A keen golfer and a father of four, Ricky holds a Master of Science degree from Oxford University and is a former Rhodes scholar.