Jennifer M. Smith

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dame Jennifer Meridith Smith DBE (* 1947 ) is a Bermudian politician of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP), who was Prime Minister between 1998 and 2003 .

Life

Jennifer Smith was first deputy opposition leader of the PLP in the House of Assembly between 1994 and 1996, and after the death of L. Frederick Wade in 1996 she became chairwoman of the PLP and, as such, leader of the opposition .

From the elections for the assembly house on November 10, 1998, the Progressive Labor Party under Jennifer Smith emerged as the winner with 30,422 votes (54.57 percent) and was able to increase the number of its mandates by eight seats to 26 parliamentary seats. The United Bermuda Party (UBP), which has ruled since 1968 under Prime Minister Pamela Gordon , won 24,706 votes (44.32 percent) and lost eight seats, leaving it with only 14 members.

Jennifer Smith became the new Prime Minister on November 10, 1998. At the same time, she held the office of Minister for Education and Human Affairs in her cabinet between 1998 and 1999, before she was last in her government from 2002 to 2003 as Minister for Government Services. From the elections of July 24, 2003, it led the PLP to another election victory. It won 15,222 votes (51.6 percent) and although it lost four of its seats, with 22 seats it still had a comfortable absolute majority in the 36-member parliament. The United Bermuda Party came under its new chairman Grant Gibbons to 14,142 votes (48 percent) and continued to have 14 seats, as the meeting house was reduced by four seats.

Despite the election victory, Jennifer Smith was replaced five days after the election on July 29, 2003 as Prime Minister and Chairwoman of the PLP by the previous Minister for Public Works and Engineering Alex Scott . She herself then took on the role of Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly between 2003 and 2010 .

Jennifer Smith, who was made Dame Commander des Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2005 , was last appointed Minister of Education in her cabinet on October 29, 2010 by Prime Minister Paula Cox . She was a member until the defeat of the PLP in the elections on December 17, 2012.

Web links

  • Entry in the WORLDWIDE GUIDE TO WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
  • Bermuda
personal data
SURNAME Smith, Jennifer M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, Jennifer Meridith (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bermudian politician
DATE OF BIRTH 1947