Loretta Butler-Turner is a Bahamian mortician and politician. She was the leader of the opposition in the Bahamian Parliament from December 2016 to May 2017.

Loretta Butler-Turner was born in Nassau, Bahamas^[1] to Rose Marie (née Taylor)^[2] and Raleigh Butler, who was the son of the first Bahamian Governor-General, Sir Milo Butler.

She attended primary and secondary school at St. Andrews School in Nassau and was the first Bahamian female to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in mortuary sciences, graduating summa cum laude from the New England Institute of Mortuary Science.^[1]

Butler became an embalmer and mortuary director in her father's business, Butlers’ Funeral Homes and Crematorium of Nassau.^[2] She has provided services for several notable deaths, particularly for singer Aaliyah^[3] and TV personality Daniel Wayne Smith (son of Anna Nicole Smith).^[4]

In 2007, she was elected to parliament for the Montagu Constituency as a member of the Free National Movement (FNM) party and appointed Minister of State for Social Development.^[1]

Butler served as Vice President of the Inter-American Commission of Women from 2009 to 2011, completing the term of Jeanette Carrillo Madrigal of Costa Rica who had resigned.^[5]

In 2012, Butler-Taylor ran for the Long Island seat and was elected.^[6] That same year, she was chosen as the Deputy Leader of the Free National Movement.^[7]

Butler ran for the party leadership in 2014^[8] but was defeated by Hubert Minnis. (Peter Turnquest replaced her as Deputy Leader.^[9])

Finally, in December 2016, Butler-Turner was sworn in as the first woman leader of the opposition in the Bahamas history.^[10] Four days later, Butler came under fire from her predecessor, Hubert Minnis, who vowed to have her leadership rescinded.^[11][12]

In April 2017, she was thrown out of the party and ran as an independent in the general election the following month.^[13] She received less than 300 votes, thus ending her parliamentary career.