Dame Jennifer Meredith Smith, DBE, JP, DHumL, MP (born 1947) was the

Premier of Bermuda The Premier of Bermuda serves as head of government of Bermuda, under appointment by the Governor of Bermuda, in the governor's capacity as representative in Bermuda of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. The position was created b ...

from 1998 until 2003, the first premier who was not a member of the

United Bermuda Party The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was a political party in Bermuda, which represented itself as centrist party with a moderate social and fiscal agenda. The party held power in Bermuda's House of Assembly continuously from 1968 to 1998, the 47-year ...

. Affectionately referred to as "Dame Jennifer", she has marked her place in Bermuda's history as the first woman to lead a political party to an election victory, the first Progressive Labour Party

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...

Minister of Education, the first and so far only leader of the PLP to lead the party to win two consecutive general elections, the first female Speaker of the House of Assembly and the second woman to serve as

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

. Smith is a member of the

Council of Women World Leaders The Council of Women World Leaders, created in 1996, is a network of 83 current and former presidents and prime ministers. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government. The council's Ministerial Initia ...

, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

Early life

Smith was born in 1947 in Bermuda, the daughter of a bartender. She was raised as a member of the African Methodist Episcopal church. She exhibited an interest in art from an early age, and later enrolled at the

Art Institute of Pittsburgh The Art Institute of Pittsburgh was a private college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Shortly before closing in 2019, it was purchased by Dream Center Education Holdings (in turn a division of The Dream Center, a Christian non-profit 501(c)(3) org ...

, from which she earned an associate degree in 1970. Upon returning to Bermuda, she began work as a political reporter and editor for the ''Bermuda Recorder'' newspaper.

Political career

Dame Jennifer Smith first got involved in frontline politics in 1972, running as a Progressive Labour Party candidate, the youngest person to run for elected office in Bermuda's history.

Senate

Smith was appointed to the

Senate of Bermuda The Senate of Bermuda is the upper house of the Parliament of Bermuda, the other being the House of Assembly. The Senate consists of eleven members appointed by the Governor for five-year terms — five Senators are nominated by the Premier, t ...

in 1980, becoming Bermuda's youngest Senator and serving in that capacity until 1989.

Member of Parliament and deputy party leadership

Dame Jennifer was elected to the

House of Assembly of Bermuda The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. The house has 36 Members of Parliament (MPs), elected for a term of five years in single seat constituencies using first-past-the-post voting ...

in 1989 as a member of the Progressive Labour Party. She was elected deputy party leader in 1994, and succeeded to the leadership two years later upon the death of L. Frederick Wade.

Leader of the Opposition

From 1996 until 1998, Dame Jennifer served as the Leader of the Progressive Labour Party and as Bermuda's Opposition Leader.

Premier of Bermuda

After two years as Opposition Leader, Smith led her party to victory in parliamentary elections in November 1998, in which the

, which had dominated elections since autonomy was gained in 1968, suffered an unprecedented defeat. The Progressive Labour Party again won parliamentary elections in July 2003, but less than a week later, Smith was forced to resign as premier following a coup within her own party. She was replaced by W. Alex Scott, but then was elected as Deputy

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: ** I ...

of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

Damehood

Smith was made a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2005.

External links

Bernews: Dame Jennifer Smith bio, video

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jennifer M. 1947 births Living people Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Progressive Labour Party (Bermuda) politicians Premiers of Bermuda Art Institute of Pittsburgh alumni Women heads of government of non-sovereign entities Leaders of the Opposition (Bermuda) 20th-century British women politicians 21st-century British women politicians Women government ministers of Bermuda