Early life Lord Sevele was born in Maʻufanga,
Nukuʻalofa. He began his high school education at
Apifoʻou College in Tonga, then went to school in
Fiji at St John's College in
Levuka on the island of
Ovalau, and the
Marist Brothers High School, Suva. He then attended
St Bede's College in
Christchurch, New Zealand, before going to the
University of Canterbury where he graduated with a
BSc degree in
mathematics, and a
BA, an
MA and a
PhD degree in
economic geography titled '''Regional inequalities in socio-economic development in Tonga' ''. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2003.
Career Upon returning to Tonga he was employed by the Tonga Commodities Board, then as chief economist for the
South Pacific Commission, and as a councillor for the
University of the South Pacific. He subsequently worked as Director of Catholic Education, a consultant, and businessman. Sevele was first elected as one of nine People's Representatives to the
Legislative Assembly () in the
1999 election and re-elected in subsequent elections. In March 2005 he was appointed to the
Cabinet as Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries, becoming one of the first two elected representatives to be appointed to Cabinet. In this capacity, he negotiated Tonga's becoming a member of the
World Trade Organization in December 2005. In early 2006 he presented an Employment Relations Bill to Cabinet, based on the
Fijian bill of the same name, as a response to the
public service strike of 2005. ==Prime minister==