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British Virgin Islands judge
Ruth Dancia Penn
,
OBE
KC
(born 1951) is a British Virgin Islands politician and former
Deputy Governor of the British Virgin Islands
from 20 September 2004 to 1 April 2007. She also formerly served as the
Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands
from 1992 to 1999.
[1]
Penn was the first woman to be appointed Deputy Governor, and the first British Virgin Islander to serve as Attorney General.
She served briefly as the acting
Governor of the British Virgin Islands
during 2006 in the gap between
Tom Macan
leaving office and
David Pearey
taking up his appointment.
Professionally Dancia Penn goes by her maiden name, but her legal name has been changed to Mrs
Dancia Penn-Sallah
since her marriage to Captain Sallah, former Registrar of Ships in the British Virgin Islands.
Politics
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In July 2007, Penn announced her candidacy to stand for the 8th district in the
General Election held on 20 August 2007
in the British Virgin Islands on behalf of the
Virgin Islands Party
(VIP).
[2]
She was elected to office, defeating the incumbent Lloyd Black, and she was appointed the Minister of Health and Welfare, and as the Deputy Premier of the British Virgin Islands. However, in the
General Election held on 7 November 2011
she lost her 8th district seat to Marlon Penn.
[3]
There had been considerable speculation after the 2007 that when the then
Premier of the British Virgin Islands
,
Ralph T. O'Neal
retired, Penn would be named as his successor as leader of the Virgin Islands Party, and would thereby become the first female Premier in the Territory. Her defeat in the 2011 election precluded (or at least deferred) that possibility. Penn subsequently ran again for the legislature in the
2015 General Election
, but ran as an independent rather than as a Virgin Islands Party candidate, and ran at-large rather than for the 8th district. She was not elected in 2015.
[4]
Judicial
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In 2007, Penn took up a temporary appointment as an acting judge of the
Court of Appeal
of the
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
. She was required to give up that appointment shortly after formally entering politics as a candidate.
Electoral history
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Dancia Penn electoral history
Year
|
District
|
Party
|
Votes
|
Percentage
|
Winning/losing margin
|
Result
|
2007
|
8th District
|
Virgin Islands Party
|
453
|
52.4%
|
+64
|
Won
|
2011
|
8th District
|
Virgin Islands Party
|
423
|
38.8%
|
-101
|
Lost
M. Penn
|
2015
|
At-large
|
Independent
|
1,837
|
5.1%
|
-2,822
|
Lost*
|
2019
|
At-large
|
Independent
|
1,607
|
4.1%
|
-2,329
|
Lost*
|
* For at-large candidates (general elections) who won, this is the vote differential from the 5th placed candidate (i.e. the candidate with the highest number of votes who was not elected). For at-large candidates who lose, this is the vote differential from the 4th placed candidate (i.e. the candidate with the lowest number of votes who was elected).
|
References
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Offices
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Sources
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