Lord Constantine (1901–1971): Profile
Lord Constantine was a West Indian cricketer and politician, who became the first person of non-European descent to be awarded a life peerage. This briefing provides biographical information including an overview of Lord Constantine’s career and a summary of his maiden speech in the House of Lords.
Learie Constantine was born on 21 September 1901. He played test cricket for the West Indies and spent his first-class cricket career playing in England. Following his retirement from the game, Constantine returned to Trinidad, and between 1954 and 1961, he served as a politician in the first Trinidad Legislature. He also published his book Colour Bar in 1954, which examined racial prejudice and discrimination on a worldwide basis.
He returned to England when he was appointed as the first High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago in London in 1962. He held the post until 1964. He subsequently wrote and broadcast on cricket, became a governor of the BBC and became a member of the Race Relations Board. He was knighted in 1962 and became rector of St Andrews University in 1967.
In the New Year’s Honours List in 1969, it was announced that Sir Learie Constantine was to be awarded a life peerage. On appointment, he became the first person of non-European descent to be awarded a life peerage. Constantine was introduced in the House of Lords on 26 March 1969, and delivered his maiden speech on 10 March 1971. Lord Constantine did not speak again in the House before his death four months later, on 1 July 1971. He was aged 69 years old. A state funeral took place on 8 July 1971 at Aroica cemetery in Trinidad. He was posthumously awarded the Trinity Cross and there was a memorial service at Westminster Abbey.