Kim Wilkerson was unveiled yesterday as the Progressive Labour Party’s replacement in the Senate for new MP Diallo Rabain.

Marc Daniels will take over as the Opposition Leader in the Senate. Announcing Senator Wilkerson’s appointment, Marc Bean, the Opposition Leader, called her “a lawyer and business executive with over 30 years of experience, and strong community ties”.

Noting the PLP’s recent win in the Devonshire North Central by-election, Mr Bean said Mr Rabain’s success presented an opportunity for “another outstanding citizen to begin fulfilling their civic duty at the highest level”.

“Senator Wilkerson brings the experience to the Progressive Labour Party team that is necessary as we hold the Government accountable, while we prepare ourselves as the government-in-waiting,” Mr Bean added.

“Senator Wilkerson brings a wealth of knowledge and experience through her professional and philanthropic work, that will prove to be an asset as she analyses and scrutinises legislation that comes before the Senate.”

Senator Wilkerson said she looked forward to working with Senator Daniels and fellow Opposition Senator Renee Ming.

“Bermuda is at a crossroad and it is my belief that we must do things differently to get the results we so desperately need as a country,” she said. “No longer will the status quo do.”

Senator Wilkerson is a senior vice-president, regional head of claims for XL Catlin’s insurance operations in Bermuda.

She also served as general counsel of XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd, having joined the company in 2007, before moving into the claims role in 2015.

She has worked in both Bermuda and London, where she was legal adviser to XL’s Lloyd’s syndicates.

In 2014, Senator Wilkerson was listed on an international women to watch list — one of just 25 selected from her industry from more than 400 around the world — by Business Insurance magazine. In an interview with Bottom Line magazine last year, she recalled how she was inspired by Dame Lois Browne-Evans to pursue a career in law, having originally started out as a broker.

She also spoke about what being a woman in business was like when she first started out.

“You walk into a room and you’re presenting a paper to a board and you’re the only woman and the only black person, there’s a feeling ‘does this person know what they’re doing?’ But when you demonstrate you do have the competence, the rest falls away,” she said. “There were not a lot of women at the table or even in the industry.

“Some of the time, you weren’t sure how to act. Those were the days, the view was that you had to look like a man and try to blend in.

“But certainly, with the numbers of women we have now, there is a strength in numbers, but there’s a thing where experience and talent matters. I’ve never experienced a view that I’m not competent because I’m a woman — having 30 years of experience carries some weight and clears the air when sitting in a meeting.”

Senator Wilkerson has also been a contributing author to the second and third editions of industry textbook The Law of Reinsurance in England & Wales and a guest speaker at industry events in Bermuda and abroad. She was appointed to the Bermuda Board of Education in 2011 and served as its deputy chairwoman until last year.