Cora Richardson-Hodge is an Anguillan politician who is the

Premier of Anguilla The Premier of Anguilla is the head of government in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla. The Premier is appointed by the Governor of Anguilla on behalf of the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Charles III, King Charles III. Up u ...

, member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

for Sandy Hill, and leader of the

Anguilla United Front The Anguilla United Front (AUF) is an alliance of political parties in Anguilla. The AUF was created on 7 January 2000 as a political and electoral partnership, when an agreement, The United Front Agreement, was signed by the Chairmen and Politic ...

. She is the first woman to serve as Premier of Anguilla and was among the first women elected to the House of Assembly since 1984.

Early life and education

Cora Richardson-Hodge was born in

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas (, , ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of t ...

, to Kenneth Richardson and Doris Connor-Richardson. Her parents who were born in

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

, but moved to the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

. She graduated from

Charlotte Amalie High School Charlotte Amalie High School (CAHS) is a public high school housing a population of just over 1400 students, and over 130 members of faculty and staff. It is located in what is colloquially called the "town area" of the island of St. Thomas, ...

. Richardson-Hodge graduated with a

bachelor of science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in environmental science from the

Florida Institute of Technology Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Approxim ...

in 1995, a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Stetson University College of Law The Stetson University College of Law (branded as Stetson Law) is the law school of Stetson University. The law school occupies a historic 1920s resort hotel, the Rolyat Hotel, designed by Richard Kiehnel. The College of Law is accredited by the ...

in 1999, and a

Legal Education Certificate In the Commonwealth Caribbean, a Legal Education Certificate is a professional certification awarded to a person who has completed a course of study and training at a law school established by the Council of Legal Education. It was created by Art ...

from Eugene Dupuch Law School in 2001. The

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is a superior court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and N ...

trained her as a

mediator Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

Career

The Florida Bar The Florida Bar is the integrated, or unified bar organization for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.

admitted Richardson-Hodge in 1999, the bar associations of Anguilla and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2001, and the bar association of St. Christopher and Nevis in 2002. She moved to Anguilla and worked as an attorney, founding the firm CR Hodge & Associates. In the

2010 Anguillian general election General elections were held in Anguilla on 15 February 2010. Seven seats in the House of Assembly were contested in the election. The incumbent Chief Minister of Anguilla Osbourne Fleming chose to retire and not stand for election. Fleming wa ...

Richardson-Hodge was the

(AUF) nominee for a seat in the

from the East End, but lost. She was elected from the Sandy Hill constituency in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. She, alongside Evalie A. Bradley and

Palmavon Webster Palmavon Webster is an Anguillian lawyer and politician. She is a former member of the House of Assembly of Anguilla and leader of the opposition. Webster was born in Island Harbour, Anguilla. She went to the University of the West Indies at ...

, were the first women elected to the House of Assembly since Abena Lake-Hodge in 1984. Richardson-Hodge was Minister of Home Affairs. She was the deputy leader of the AUF before becoming its leader and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the House of Assembly on 3 July 2020. The AUF won a majority of House of Assembly seats in the 2025 general election. Richardson-Hodge was sworn in as the first female premier of Anguilla on 27 February 2025.

Personal life

Richardson-Hodge is married and has two children.

References

Works cited

News

* * *

Web

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson-Hodge, Cora Year of birth unknown Living people Members of the House of Assembly of Anguilla Anguillan women in politics Women government ministers of Anguilla Women opposition leaders Year of birth missing (living people) Government ministers of Anguilla Premiers of Anguilla