Biography
Paula Cox is the former Premier of Bermuda and was the leader of the Bermuda Progressive Labor Party (PLP) from October 2010 until December 2012.
Premier Paula Cox earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from McGill University, a post-graduate Diploma in International Law from the University of Manchester, England, and is a member of the Bermuda Bar, having trained in the United Kingdom as a Solicitor. In her professional life, Premier Cox worked as Corporate Counsel at ACE Limited, joining the global re/insurance giant in 2002. She previously worked as Vice President and Senior Legal Counsel of Global Funds Services at The Bank of Bermuda, Limited. She has ample expertise in the field of international law and international business organization. She became active in Bermudian politics after she completed her education and returned to the island on a full-time basis in the 1990s. For many years Premier Cox was one of the late PLP Leader Frederick Wade’s closest aides. She was his first Shadow Parliamentary Secretary, while also occupying the office of the PLP’s Public Relations Officer. Cox was first elected to Parliament in 1996 as one of the youngest members of the House of Assembly. She was then appointed as Minister of Education (2001-2004), Minister of Finance (2004-2012), Attorney General (2003-2004) and the first PLP Minister of Labor, Home Affairs and Public Safety (1998-2001). In the 2014 Birthday Honours for public service in Bermuda Cox was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Cox was the Founding President of the International Women’s Forum (“IWF”)-Bermuda Forum, and serves on the international board of the IWF and currently chairs the IWF President’s Council and has just been elected to a third term on the global IWF Board effective Jan 2018. In 2018, Cox accepted the invitation to join the selected board of Advisors for the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute. |