Editing Port of Spain (section)

== Government ==
Port of Spain is administered by the Port of Spain City Corporation. There are 12 councillors and 4 aldermen. The mayor is elected from the membership of the council.
The council is presided over by the mayor, who is effectively the chief custodian of the city. It formulates policy and gives direction for the running of the city through a number of standing committees which each meet at least once per month.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

Decisions are then ratified at the statutory meeting of the council, which takes place on the last Wednesday of each month. The policies and directives of the council are executed by the administrative arm of the corporation, which is headed by the chief executive officer and has under her charge a number of senior officers and a workforce of about 3,000 daily-paid and 300 monthly-paid employees.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

The chief executive officer and her staff are public servants functioning under the regulations of the Statutory Authorities Service Commissions Ordinance.<ref name=r2>[http://cityofportofspain.gov.tt/ The Port of Spain City Corporation website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217091532/http://cityofportofspain.gov.tt/ |date=17 December 2012 }}. cityofportofspain.org.tt</ref>

=== Mayors ===
Following an election in 1887, [[Michel Maxwell Philip]] became the mayor, a position that had previously been held by only whites. [[Bridget Brereton]] wrote in her 2002 book ''Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad 1870–1900'' that "perhaps this marks the emergence of the coloured man as a political force in Trinidad".<ref name="Bereton">{{cite book |title=Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad 1870–1900 |last=Bereton |first=Bridget |page=87 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-52313-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Icr9Klvm6wC }}</ref>

Chinua Alleyne is the current mayor of Port of Spain.

The electoral districts are:
* St. James East
* St. James West
* Woodbrook
* Northern Port of Spain
* Belmont East
* Belmont North & West
* Southern Port of Spain
* East Dry River
* St. Ann's River South
* St. Ann's River Central
* St. Ann's River North
* Belmont South

Port of Spain became a "city" in 1914; the ordinance was passed on 29 May and was proclaimed by the Governor on 25 June 1914. The first city councillors were elected on 2 November. Among them were oil pioneer Randolph Rust, lawyer and social activist [[Emmanuel Mzumbo Lazare]] and Dr. Enrique Prada, who was elected chairman by the council and became the first mayor of the City of Port of Spain.

=== Politics ===
For several convocations all city MPs are from [[People's National Movement]]. For elections to the [[Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago]], the city is covered by two constituencies: [[Port of Spain South (parliamentary constituency)|Port of Spain South]] and [[Port of Spain North/Saint Ann's West (parliamentary constituency)|Port of Spain North/Saint Ann's West]].