The new attorney general of the United Kingdom, Dominican-born Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal QC(photo), has been “very humbled” by the response from all shades of opinion following her appointment by new British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in June this year.
Although officially on holiday in her native land, the Baroness took some time out to meet with representatives of the various media houses in Dominica.
“I have been very humbled because my appointment has been met with total delight not only by the black community but what has really surprised and warmed and pleased me is that it has been greeted with universal acclaim and that is something that has deeply humbled me. The Bar of England and Wales have appeared delighted as have the Judiciary and others and that is something which I hope to honour and fulfil because I certainly don’t want to disappoint,” Baroness Scotland said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The Baroness, who was born in the west coast village of St. Joseph in 1955, also told the media that being a Dominican has always been a source of immense pride to her.
“I am as all of you know very proud to be Dominican and very proud always to come home. This is the country of my birth. It is something I have always been extremely proud to acknowledge and I am particularly proud that in choosing a woman to become attorney general our prime minister chose a black, Caribbean, Dominican woman to do that role. And I hope it demonstrates that in this small island with less than 70,000 people, we can produce people of real talent and I know that I am not the only Dominican who has the ability and/or the talent to reach high office...”
Prior to her appointment as attorney general, Baroness Scotland served with distinction as Parliamentary Secretary in the Lord Chancellor’s Department from 2001 to 2003 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1999-2001.
Baroness Scotland has achieved many firsts in her long and distinguished career. In 1991, she made legal history becoming the first black female QC (Queens Counsel) at the age of 35. Her elevation to the coveted position of attorney general in the British government made her the first woman attorney general in Britain and significantly the first Dominican to be appointed to a cabinet post in the United Kingdom.
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