ith a father ? Dr. E.F. Gordon ? who was one of Bermuda?s most famous labour and civil rights activists and former Premier Pamela Gordon for a sister, it should be unsurprising that Patricia Gordon-Pamplin ended up as a politician.

But according to the forthright Shadow Finance Minister, her high-flying political career within the United Bermuda Party all came about by accident.

It?s clear that her father?s work and reputation work left a life-shaping impression on her, even though she was just five years old when he died in 1955.

?I remember so many of the strategy sessions he would have at the house. I?d go to bed with people interested in the labour movement in my home and I?d wake up and they?d still be there with my Mom having looked out for them and fed them,? she says.

?There was just something about those early days, and my Mom always kept his memory alive for us, but as time went on I always had the opinion that my father had done so much for this country that I was almost prepared to rest on my laurels.

?I felt like he?d done his bit and it was enough for him and the rest of the family, so so be it.?

However, then her older sister Olympia Corrent became chairwoman for Pembroke East Central for the United Bermuda Party ? and asked her whether she?d be prepared to sit with her as deputy chairwoman.

This exposure to UBP politics as well as five years working for Sir John Swan at John Swan Ltd. as a senior bookkeeper gave her a feeling for, she says, ?what politics is all about?.

However, even when Pamela joined the UBP at the invitation of Sir John, Patricia still felt that the rest of her family had contributed quite enough to the political life of Bermuda, and ?my price is paid?.

It was her husband, Dennis, asking her where her involvement was that spurred her into kick-starting her own fledgling political career. ?I thought ?make me feel guilty why don?t you?!?? she says.

Indeed, Mrs. Gordon Pamplin credits her husband for the highlight of her political career ? which came before she ever entered the Senate or the House.

?In 1993, as a starry-eyed romantic, I married the man whom I loved so dearly, only to find that as a result of his prior divorce from another Bermudian woman, he was deemed to not belong to Bermuda, and therefore was being asked to leave the Island,? she said.

?The policy in force at that time was that a foreign female spouse of a Bermudian would be allowed to remain in Bermuda even after divorce, but a foreign male spouse was not. I could not understand why male and female Bermudians were being treated differently in similar circumstances of having foreign spouses.

?I then engaged on a crusade to ensure that equal rights were afforded both genders, not just because of my personal circumstances, but because I believed that to be the right thing to do.?

She decided to challenge the then-Immigration Minister, Irving Pearman in his Warwick constituency in the 1993 general election, aiming, she said ?to highlight the insensitivity of the Minister and the stupidity of the policy?.

Although she was a member of the UBP, she decided to stand as an Independent, she says, ?in keeping with my decision to stand for what it right and not just for that which is politically expedient?.

She lost, but when election time came around again her sister Pamela ? who was installed as Premier in early 1997 ? was soon looking for UBP candidates for the1998 election. According to Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin, she felt that it was time for her to step up to the plate. ?I wanted to help make a difference,? she says.

Asked ? bearing in mind her father?s role in the labour movement ? it might have been a more obvious choice to join the PLP. In answer, she cites her mixed-race background, with a white grandmother on her father?s side.

?My focus on colour was less important to me than my focus on issues. The sentiments that were being advanced by the Progressive Labour Party were predominately black sentiments and I found it to be exclusionary. It went against the grain of everything I had been taught, including what my father stood for.

?He stood for equality and the advancing of people and eradicating discrimination and so do I. There?s fundamentally little difference between that which my father espoused and where my principles lie,? she said.

Although she was soundly beaten when she stood for Pembroke East Central in the 1998 election, a stint in the Senate followed before she won the by-election in UBP stronghold Paget West in Spring 1999 following the sudden death of Madeline Joell.

A former player with Bermuda?s Big Blue Machine softball team, she found a natural fit in the post of Shadow Minister of Youth and Sport. ?I loved it. Absolutely loved it,? she says of that time.

However following the resignation of her sister, new UBP leader Grant Gibbons earmarked her for a more substantial role within the party and promoted her to the position of Shadow Minister of Labour and Home Affairs.

?Horror of horrors! I was overwhelmed when he asked me, but I?ve never been one to disappoint anyone. I worked hard and was fortunate to be able to develop a good rapport with the Permanent Secretary, (Robert) Bobby Horton. He?s the best of the best of PS?s,? she says.

Having settled into this post, Mrs. Gordon Pamplin is startling ly honest about how she felt after the 2003 election when Dr. Gibbons asked her to switch from Labour and Home Affairs to Shadow Minister for Works and Engineering.

?I cried. I went home that night and I cried. My husband said ?you can do it and you?re going to do a good job? but I was crying because bricks and mortar don?t talk. I?m a people person. I didn?t think I?d do well,? she says. However, she explains, the building of the new senior secondary school at Berkeley and the political firestorm that ensued gave her the motivation to get her teeth into the post.

?I think that I shone because I was catapulted to the forefront in a manner that I never expected. The Government on a daily basis gave me cannon fodder. I have a lack of fear. I?m not just dogmatic and pedantic. I want what?s best for this country,? she says, expressing a hope that people trust and respect her for having an opinion and sticking to it.

?I don?t cherry-pick my principles. Something?s either right or wrong and you don?t defend wrong,? she adds ? highlighting the controversy when MPs on both sides of the house sat silently rather than debating Ren?e Webb?s private members bill to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin ? who supported the bill ? has already made it clear that she had every intention of speaking once the substantive Minister on Human Rights, Dale Butler, had spoken. Still angry over the Human Rights Commission throwing out her complaint about Sen. David Burch?s ?house nigger? comment on his radio show, she says she was keen to hear how the Minister ?traversed that minefield? and was preparing herself to ?listen to his speech very carefully and rip it to threads.?

However, Mr. Butler did not speak ? later explaining that the debate collapsed while he had nipped out for a visit to the bathroom. And Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin is unafraid to admit that, whatever the reasons behind what happened, both sides of the House ended up with egg on their faces that night.

?The UBP were wrong for not speaking. We all shut up. We all looked like a bunch of idiots up there and you can?t defend that,? she said with characteristic bluntness. She adds that she has been ?lambasted left right and centre? by her constituents for the failure to engage in the debate.

Asked about Ms Webb?s remark after her bill was defeated that that the leadership on both sides of the House is ?the weakest I have ever seen? and about how much female solidarity there is across the benches, she replies that things are generally ?reasonably cordial.?

However, she believes that opportunities to engage with each other are missed due to the nature of the Westminster political system.

?It?s unfortunate because I feel that a lot of talent is wasted. I happen to believe that for the most part the female politicians have acquitted themselves exceptionally well when compared to the input of their male counterparts. We?ve got some weak males up there ? and you can put that on the record,? she says, with a chuckle.

When I press her on whether she is referring to the UBP as well as the PLP, she says: ?I?m saying we?ve got some weak males in the House of Assembly. I?m not going to go any more specific.?

So ? bearing this remark in mind as well as her sister?s Premiership ? does she harbour ambitions to land the top job and lead the country one day herself? Her reaction is to hoot once again with laughter.

?God no ? no way Jose! That?s never been my ambition,? she says. But the woman who maintains that her path in politics thus-far has been more of an accident than a carefully-plotted course adds: ?Sir John Swan said to me ?that may not be your ambition but it may be your plight, so be prepared for it.? I will say that it is in no way anything that I have aspired towards. I would accept the challenge if the country felt it was the right decision. I wouldn?t shirk away from it but I certainly wouldn?t pursue it.?

Whatever the future may hold, for now she will continue wrestling with what she describes as the ?massive challenges? of her shadow ministry.

?Above everything else I have to listen to the input and ideas of my colleagues and make sure that whatever we say we will do in Government, that we can afford to pay for it. We can?t make promises because they sound good. We?ve got to make promises that are sound financially,? she says.

All this while holding down her ?day job? as Vice President and Chief Accountant at Everest Re Bermuda and fulfilling her family responsibilities. She?s married to Dennis and has two sons ? aged 40 and 21? plus four stepchildren. Her husband lives mainly in the United States, where he works as a mould abatement contractor.

?It?s not a difficult balance for me. I?ve probably got the best of both worlds. I have professional and political and personal responsibilities and I?m able to balance, them although it has its challenges,? she says.

There?s no doubt that seven years after she was first elected, she continues to revel in the cut and thrust of debate in the House of Assembly. She says she prides herself on knowing her way around the House rules, and more importantly: ?I also know when to interpolate and when to shut up.?