He was selected as Prime Minister in the coalition agreement between the United People's Party and the independent Members Parliament Cornelius de Weever and Leona Marlin-Romeo.

[2] Prior to becoming Prime Minister, he served as a member on the Sint Maarten Council of Advise.

As a child, Gumbs attended the St. Joseph School in Sint Maarten.

[1] He began his career in 1983, as an observer in the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles for the Democratic Party (DP).

In 1990, when DP leader Claude Wathey refused to accept his parliamentary seat, Gumbs having received the next highest votes, 419 was sworn into his second parliamentary term.