The Hon. Rudyard Spencer, C.D., M.P. was born in Grange Hill, Westmoreland on February 23, 1944 and attended Medgar Evers College, City University of New York  and specialized in Industrial Relations at Cornell University in the USA.

He is Member of Parliament for the South East Clarendon constituency and was appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security on March 26, 2018. Previously, he served as Minister of Health from 2007 to 2012 and Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service from 2016 to 2018.

Mr. Spencer was first appointed to the Senate in 1993 and served as Leader of the Opposition Business in the Senate from 1995 – 1997.

He is Deputy Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and a member of the JLP Central Executive. He has held several key positions in the Jamaica Labour Party such as Deputy Chairman, Deputy Chairman to the Central Executive, and Deputy Chairman to the Selection Committee.

He has held the positions of President, Senior Vice President and Senior Negotiating Officer in the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU).

He is a specialist in financial sector worker representation and negotiations.

Mr. Spencer has also served as Director of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions and has represented the trade union movement internationally as a Member of the Caribbean Congress of Labour. He has also served as Chairman of the Joint BITU/JLP Committee.

He was awarded the Order of Distinction (Officer rank) in 1995 and conferred with the rank of Commander class in 2014 for more than 20 years of distinguished service to Parliament .