Vincentian journalist, Hans King, is tipped to become Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves new press secretary.

Reliable sources told SEARCHLIGHT that King was interviewed by the Prime Minister on Tuesday, May 2. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, however, could not be reached for a comment on the matter as he was out of the state.{{more}}

A senior public servant in the Prime Minister’s office, when contacted, was unable to confirm or deny the report and said SEARCHLIGHT will have to wait until the Prime Minister returned for a comment.

King expressed similar sentiments when contacted in Barbados where he is in his final year of a degree programme at the Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies.

“The best person to get that from is the Prime Minister,” said King jokingly as he declined to comment.

The former Head Boy of the St. Vincent Grammar School who for a few years served that institution as a teacher, entered the media 11 years ago as a reporter /distributor/sub-editor of the SEARCHLIGHT newspaper.

After a five-year stint in print he moved on to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Broadcasting Corporation where he served as assistant news editor, displaying his versatility in radio and television.

Currently, King works part-time at the Barbados-based regional news agency, Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

The Prime Minister’s press secretary’s post became vacant in unfortunate circumstances when former press secretary and personal aide, Glenn Jackson, was discovered dead in the back seat of his vehicle at Cane Garden on Monday, March 6.

The former journalist and political activist had a single gunshot wound to the chest, which penetrated his sternum area and exited his back.

His homicide was the first for the year and is believed to have taken place the night before, March 5.

On May 2, the same day it is believed King went for his interview with the Prime Minister, Francis Williams, a 23-year-old man of Sion Hill, was taken to the Serious Offenses Court where he was charged for Jackson’s murder.

He returns to court on Monday, July 24, at 9 a.m for the Preliminary Inquiry.