Sir John George Melvin Compton, (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first Prime Minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton served as Prime Minister three times: briefly in 1979, again from 1982 to 1996, and from 2006 until his death in 2007. He cofounded the conservative United Workers Party (UWP) in 1964; he led the party until 1996, then again from 2005 to 2007. Early life and education Compton was born on 29 April 1925 in Canouan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In September 1939, he was taken to Saint Lucia. While studying law and economics, Compton attended the University College of Wales from 1948 to 1949 and the London School of Economics from 1949 to 1951; he was called to the Bar on 7 August 1951. Political career Beginnings Compton entered politics in 1954, successfully running for the Micoud/Dennery seat on the Saint Lucia Executive Council as an independent. He became the Council Member for Social Affairs in 1955, and served in this position until the Committee System was replaced by the Ministerial System in 1956. That same year, he joined the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP). He participated in a sugar workers' strike in 1957, and was fined for obstructing roads. Re-elected in 1957, Compton became Minister for Trade and Production in 1958; he was also appointed deputy leader of the SLP under George Charles. In 1960 he was reappointed Minister of Trade and Industry when Charles became the first Chief Minister. Although Compton was re-elected in 1961, he chose not to join the Executive Council. Objecting to the SLP's new ministers, he left the SLP instead and formed a new party, the National Labour Movement. In 1964, Compton merged the National Labour Movement with another opposition party, the People's Progressive Party, to form the United Workers' Party (UWP). This new party won the 1964 general election, making Compton the new Chief Minister. Administration under British rule, 1964–1979 In office, Compton worked for Saint Lucia's independence from British rule. When Saint Lucia became an Associated State of the United Kingdom on 1 March 1967, a move that placed the Saint Lucian government fully in charge of the island's internal affairs, Compton became St. Lucia's first and only Premier. At the conference from April to May 1966 that led