Curl Osmond Thompson
Former Leader of the Opposition of Belize

Curl Thompson was Leader of the Opposition of Belize from January 1983 to December 1984.

Career

Thompson served as an Area Representative in the Belize House of Representatives and as deputy prime minister. He was also interim leader of the United Democratic Party for a brief period in the early 1980s.

Thompson was the UDP's nominee for the Belize House in the Belize City-based Mesopotamia constituency in 1974, but was defeated by thePeople's United Party incumbent, C. L. B. Rogers. Thompson was elected to the seat in a 1979 rematch. In January 1983 Thompson became Leader of the Opposition upon Theodore Aranda's departure from the UDP, serving concurrently as interim party leader until Sen.Manuel Esquivel was elected as Aranda's permanent replacement, with Thompson becoming deputy party leader. Thompson served as deputy prime minister during the first Esquivel government from 1984 to 1989.

Honours and awards

Thompson was posthumously awarded the Order of Belize in September 2010 for his contributions to Public Service and Industrial Relations.

Death and legacy

Curl Thompson Street in Belize City and the Curl Thompson Building in Belmopan are named in his honour.