Lionel Alex is a Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 politician.

After graduating from the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education, he worked as a surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

 before entering politics. His career in national politics began when he was elected to Parliament as the member for South Vella La Vella in the August 2010 general election

Solomon Islands general election, 2010

A general election was held in the Solomon Islands on 4 August 2010. In May 2010, Prime Minister Derek Sikua announced that the election would be held on 4 August, however, this announcement was deemed to be premature, as only the Governor General has the authority to announce the election date...

, standing as an independent candidate

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

. He was then appointed Minister for Rural Development and Indigenous Affairs in Prime Minister Danny Philip

Danny Philip

Danny Philip is a politician and diplomat from the Solomon Islands. He is the current Prime Minister, who came into office after the 2010 general election. He served as foreign minister from 1995 to 1996 and from July 2000 to June 2001...

's Cabinet. When Gordon Darcy Lilo replaced Philip as Prime Minister in November 2011, Alex retained his position in government.