The upcoming Budget is, naturally, Paula Cox's top priority as she takes over the helm of the Finance Ministry.

"The Budget will be on time and on schedule," she told this newspaper minutes after Premier Alex Scott announced that she had been selected to fill her late father's shoes.

The Budget is scheduled to be delivered to parliamentarians on February 13, but with Mr. Cox's death there was speculation that it might have to be postponed.

Ms Cox said she will be getting on with the business of familiarising herself with the Ministry and was acutely aware that Finance dealt with a "number of strands" of the economy, not just international business but economic diplomacy, the retail sector and other areas.

"In terms of personal loss one has to get busy and working and informed in as accelerated a time as possible," she said.

"In terms of personal loss one of the best remedies is to keep busy."

Ms Cox said she was honoured to have been asked to step into her father's shoes and was keen to "build on the foundation he has competently laid".

She said she felt a "huge sense of poignancy both in terms of leaving two Ministries which I value, relationships that have been forged ? and were being forged".

She was the Progressive Labour Party's (PLP) first Labour and Home Affairs Minister, but was transferred to the Education Ministry in late 2001.

And after last year's General Election she succeeded Dame Lois Browne Evans as the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, retaining responsibility for Education.

Ms Cox was first elected to Parliament when she won a Devonshire North by-election in 1996 called to find a replacement for the late PLP Leader Frederick Wade.

She has earned widespread respect as a Cabinet Minister and continues to have a successful career in the private sector.

A lawyer, Ms Cox works in the international business sector and is a legal counsel at ACE Ltd. She also has a post graduate degree in International Law and was once a journalist.