Education
She attended The Berkeley Institute and later earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from McGill University in Canada, and a post-graduate Diploma in International Law from the University of Manchester.
She attended The Berkeley Institute and later earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from McGill University in Canada, and a post-graduate Diploma in International Law from the University of Manchester.
She has been the leader of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party (PLP), since 28 October 2010. In accordance with the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968, she was appointed Premier of Bermuda, on Friday, 29 October 2010 by Governor Sir Richard Gozney. She was succeeded as Premier by Craig Cannonier on 18 December 2012, when she led her party into election defeat, losing her own seat in the process.
Paula Cox, the only daughter born to Bermudians C. Eugene and Alinda F. Cox, spent her early years living in Sandys Parish.
She trained as a Solicitor at the College of Law, Chancery Lane, London, and was called to the Bermuda Bar in January 1992. She received an honorary doctorate in Education at the May 2004 Commencement Exercise of Wheelock College (United States of America) and more recently, in 2009, was made an Honorary Alumnus of Dalhousie University.
A seat formally held by the then Opposition Leader, Mr. L. Frederick Wade, Justice of the Peace, Member of Parliament. Following the General Election in November 1998, Cox was appointed the first PLP Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety.
Her management of that portfolio gained her added recognition when she was judged "the most effective politician" in the Best of Bermuda Gold Awards for 2001 by The Bermudian, a prestigious and long-standing magazine in Bermuda.
On 1 November 2001, Cox was given a new assignment and appointed the Minister of Education and Development and was later that year named in the Bermudians" Best of Bermuda Gold annual listing as the most effective politician for 2001. Cox served in this dual portfolio until January 2004. In 2003, she was again cited in The Bermudian′s Best of Gold"s annual listing as the most effective politician.
C. Eugene Cox, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Justice of the Peace, Member of Parliament. Cabinet appointments:
Premier of Bermuda, October 2010–December 2012
Minister of Finance, 2004-2012
Attorney General, 2003-2004
Minister of Education, 2001-2004
Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety, 1998–2001
Cox was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for public service in Bermuda.
Paula A. Cox is a corporate lawyer, having served as a lawyer for American Council on Exercise Limited as their Corporate Counsel and previously as Vice President and Senior Legal Counsel of Global Funds Services at the Bank of Bermuda Limited.
She and her father were unique in Bermuda and party politics in both being Ministers in the first PLP administration and the only serving father-daughter duo in Parliament.
Then in her mid-30s, Mistress Cox became one of the youngest members of the House of Assembly. Following the July 2003 general election, Cox retained her Education portfolio but was additionally appointed Attorney-General following the retirement of the iconic former leader of the BPLP, former member of parliament and former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dame Lois Browne-Evans.
