Kiz Johnson, contesting her first general election, won the St Philips South constituency on April 30 and was sworn in as Minister of State in the Ministry of Social and Urban Transformation, becoming only the second female Member of Parliament in Antigua and Barbuda. Her appointment, confirmed at a ceremony at Government House, came as Prime Minister Gaston Browne moved to constitute his new Cabinet following the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party’s 15-of-17 election sweep.
Johnson’s win is part of a broader pattern visible in this election cycle. The Senate appointments that followed brought a further cluster of women into the legislature, with Senate President Alincia Williams-Grant reappointed for a fourth consecutive term and first-time senator Abena St Luce signalling youth and mentorship as her chamber priorities. Antigua and Barbuda’s track record on women in Parliament has been notably thinner than that of several CARICOM neighbours, making the St Philips South result and the swearing-in of female senators a moment of measurable, not symbolic, change.
For diaspora Antiguans tracking the political shift in St Philips and across the country, Johnson’s portfolio matters in practical terms. Social and Urban Transformation is among the ministries with direct responsibility for housing, community development, and the social safety net — files where diaspora remittances and returnee investment are quietly significant. The Prime Minister has set high accountability expectations for ministers in this Cabinet. Johnson begins her term as both a first-time MP and a junior minister under that framing.
Sources: Antigua Observer; antigua.news, May 2026.