Asot Michael: Antigua and Barbuda Parliament Member

Asot Michael is the eldest of seven children. As an eleven-year-old, Asot attended an Antigua Anglican School and did well academically. In his late teens, he was accepted and graduated from Lincoln University in the United States with a degree in accounting. Asot Michael began his professional career in accounting, and his love for politics, history, and politics continued to play a role throughout his professional and life. He was an accountant for the St. Peter-based education trust system and served as an accountant in the Portmore-based Barbados Telecommunications and Marine insurance companies. He finished education at primary and secondary levels at the Cotton Tree Primary School and the Antigua State College. Asot Michael graduated from the University of Trinidad and Tobago, majoring in Accounting and Finance. 

After graduating, Asot Michael returned to his native Antigua to join the British-based Barrow Group of Companies, serving as Chief Financial Officer. The Barrow Group of Companies is a third-generation conglomerate founded by the late Roy Barrow in 1969. As a youth, the politician Asot Michael was a founding member of the Antigua and Barbuda Youth Movement (Crunchbase). 

Following up on his career, he was one of the authors of the Barbuda Youth Charter, which was drafted in 2007. In 2006, he was appointed as Minister for Finance, Trade, Investment, and Energy. In 2010 he was appointed Minister for Social Development. He was re-elected in 2015, and he also was re-elected in 2017 as the Member of Parliament for St. Peter. Asot Michael was appointed as a Minister in the present government on May 7th, 2017; only a month after Antigua and Barbuda was struck by Hurricane Irma. Last year, he was a world-class shooter and captured his second Commonwealth Games gold medal in Gold Coast, Australia. This gold medal propelled Asot Michael to being the first Antiguan athlete to capture multiple gold medals in Commonwealth Games history.

Antigua and Barbuda’s representative Asot Michael was named Sportsman of the Year by the Olympic and Commonwealth Games Federation for his stellar performance in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The journey of the honorable politician started in his Antigua and Barbuda-based school, Christ Church Cathedral. Asot Michael became involved in politics at an early age. He was elected to the position of political affairs secretary of the university in 1991 and became chairman of the Student Parliament of the Antigua State University in 1994. Michael then ran successfully for a seat in the Antigua and Barbuda Parliament and served in that position until 2000.