Bridgetown.
Former President of the Senate Sir Branford Taitt is dead, one of the founders of mordern Barbados, Sir Branford service to the people of Barbados began in 1965 with his appointment to the post of manager of the Barbados Development Board in New York 1965.
Two year later he was invited to become Barbados' first Consul General in New York with responsibility for the entire United States.
He became a walking investment for Barbados with his shirt jacks suits and successfully attracted American investors to Barbados. In 1971 Sir Branford was appointed to the Senate and served in the Cabinet of the then Prime Minister Errol Barrow as Minister of Trade Industry and Commerce.
Four years later, elected to the House of Assembly as the representative of the consituency of St Michael West. He remained the MP for that consituency until he was defeated in the 1999 general elections.
Between 1986 and 1994 Sir Branford held several ministerial positions, including Minister of Health, Minister of Tourism and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Sir Branford served as president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) for three terms and as general secretary for a number of years. He also served as the DLP's campaign manager for every general elections between 1971 and 2008.
A devout Anglician, Sir Branford was a member of Anglican Diocese of Barbados. He formally retired from active politics in 2004 only to be called to service again in 2008 when he was appointed to the Senate and was elected President of the Chamber by his fellow Senators.
On November 30th 2010, he received Barbados' highest award, the Knight of St Andrew in the Independence Day Honours List.
Sir Branford resigned from the position of President of the Senate in March last year and had been ailing for sometime. He was 75 years of age.
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