JoBeth Lillian Coleby-Davis (born 17 July 1984) is a Bahamian

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party (abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton Tay ...

politician and attorney who has been the Bahamian Minister of Housing and Transport since 23 September 2021 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Elizabeth since 6 October 2021. Coleby-Davis defeated the FNM incumbent Duane Sands in the 2021 general election. She previously served in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 2017 to 2021.

Early life

Coleby-Davis was born in

Freeport, Grand Bahama Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama of the northwest Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted of pineyard with substantial areas of sw ...

to Irma (née Bootle) and Wayde Coleby. She is the granddaughter of Granville Coleby and the niece of Edwin Coleby. She attended Walker Primary School. Her family relocated to the United States and then again to the

Turks and Caicos The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and nor ...

where she finished her secondary education at

Clement Howell High School Clement Howell High School is a senior high school in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. Named after Clement Howell, it serves forms three through five and is operated by the Ministry of Education (Turks and Caicos). History It opened in September ...

. She pursued an

Associate Degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

in Law and Criminal Justice at the

College of the Bahamas A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

. She then took her studies to the United Kingdom, graduating with a dual

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

with Business Management from

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

in 2009. She took a bar vocational course at

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as a new university in 1992, although its roots go back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design, w ...

the following year before going on to graduate with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in Energy Law and Policy from the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

Career

Coleby-Davis was called to the

Bar of England and Wales Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

and the Bar of the Bahamas. She provided legal counseling to

ScotiaBank The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

and the

Bahamas Petroleum Company The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

. She sat on the board Real Property Tax Appeal Tribunal and participated in the amnesty programme. Coleby-Davis was appointed and sworn in as a Senator in 2017, when the PLP was in opposition. She accused the FNM government of being out of touch with millennial Bahamians. In October 2020, she announced she would seek the PLP nomination for Elizabeth for the next election. She was ratified in February 2021. She unseated FNM incumbent Duane Sands in the 2021 general election. After winning the election, she was appointed to be the Minister of Transport and Housing under the new

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Philip "Brave" Davis Philip Edward "Brave" Davis (born 7 June 1951) is a Bahamian politician serving as the Prime Minister of the Bahamas since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador since May 2002. Davis was Depu ...

Coleby-Davis was officially sworn into parliament on 6 October 2021. During the opening of parliament, she seconded the nomination of

Patricia Deveaux Patricia Ann Deveaux (born 1968) is a Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party politician serving as Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bamboo Town. She is the second woman to hold the position of Speaker after Ita ...

to become

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the

House of Assembly of the Bahamas The Parliament of the Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the sovereign (represented by the governor-general), an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assem ...

References

External links

PLP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleby-Davis, jobeth Living people 1984 births Alumni of Keele University Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Alumni of the University of Dundee Bahamian lawyers Members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas Members of the Senate of the Bahamas Progressive Liberal Party politicians University of the Bahamas alumni 21st-century Bahamian women politicians 21st-century Bahamian politicians Women government ministers of the Bahamas