Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers (born 13 January 1993) is an

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 ...

n politician, lawyer, athlete, former model and beauty pageant titleholder. A member of the Anguilla Progressive Movement, Kentish-Rogers has served as the Minister for Education and Social Development in the government of Ellis Webster since 2020. She has also represented the constituency of Valley South in 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 ...

since 2020. Since 2021, she has been a Millennium Fellow at the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

in Washington, D.C. Kentish-Rogers first received national recognition in athletics, competing for Anguilla at the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, and at the 2012 CARIFTA Games. She afterwards became a model and beauty pageant titleholder, winning Miss Anguilla 2017 and Miss Universe Great Britain 2018, where she was the second

Black British Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Sub-Saharan ...

woman after Anita St. Rose in 1996 to win the title. Kentish-Rogers later went on to place in the Top 20 at Miss Universe 2018 as the British representative.

Early life, athletics, and education

Kentish-Rogers was born on 13 January 1993 in The Valley on the island of

, a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and was raised on her family farm. Growing up, Kentish-Rogers resided in a house with 11 other family members, including several male cousins, and was a self-described "

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

" who played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. Kentish-Rogers later began competing in athletics, beginning with the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and later switching to

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. As an athlete, Kentish-Rogers represented Anguilla at the

and

, and at the 2012 CARIFTA Games, with the ultimate goal of joining

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. While competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she suffered a knee injury which put an end to her athletics career. Kentish-Rogers subsequently relocated to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in England to enroll in the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

as a law student. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree and qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in 2018.

Pageantry

Kentish-Rogers began her pageantry career in 2017, after she was crowned Miss Anguilla 2017. Following her return to

the following year, Kentish-Rogers registered as a contestant at Miss Universe Great Britain 2018; she was eligible for the pageant due to her residence in Birmingham, as eligibility is reserved for British citizens resident in only England, Scotland, or Wales. The pageant was held on 14 July 2018 in

Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...

, and Kentish-Rogers went on to be declared the winner. Following her win, she became the first

woman to win the title. As Miss Universe Great Britain, Kentish-Rogers received the right to represent Great Britain at the Miss Universe 2018 pageant. The pageant was held on 17 December 2018 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, where Kentish-Rogers went on to place in the Top 20, advancing as one of the continental semifinalists from Europe.

Political career

Kentish-Rogers began a political career in 2020, after announcing her candidacy on behalf of the Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) in the 2020 general election. Kentish-Rogers was selected to contest the Valley South constituency for the

Anguilla House of Assembly The House of Assembly is the unicameral legislature of Anguilla. It has 13 members, 7 members in single-seat constituencies, 4 members representing the island at-large and 2 ex officio members. Anguilla has a multi-party system. 2020 general e ...

, standing against incumbent

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Victor Banks Victor Franklin Banks (born 8 November 1947)Victor Banks
Caribbean Elections ...

. The election was held on 29 June 2020, where Kentish-Rogers was elected to the Anguillan parliament. She received the highest number of votes of any constituency candidate standing in the election, and additionally became the youngest person elected to the House of Assembly, aged 27. Following the certification of election results, the APM were determined to have won the election, securing a majority in the House of Assembly. Party leader Ellis Webster later took office as premier and formed a seven-person government, nominating Kentish-Rogers to serve as education and social development minister. In February 2022, Kentish-Rogers served as acting premier for ten days, while Webster was not present in Anguilla; aged 29, she became the youngest person to serve in the position in Anguillan history. In June 2023, Kentish-Rogers resigned from the government and from the APM in protest of the government's handling of the implementation of the goods and service tax (GST), but was reappointed one week later.

Personal life

As of 2020, Kentish-Rogers continued to reside in the family home where she was raised in The Valley. While reigning as

Miss Universe Great Britain Miss Universe Great Britain is a national beauty pageant that selects the British representative in the Miss Universe contest. History When created as Miss Universe Great Britain in 1952, 30 women around the island of Great Britain and No ...

, Kentish-Rogers split her time between Anguilla and

References

External links

Official website
MissUniverseGB. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kentish-Rogers, Dee-Ann 1993 births 21st-century British lawyers 21st-century British women lawyers 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of the University of Birmingham Anguillan expatriates in England Anguillan female athletes Anguilla Progressive Movement politicians Anguillan women in politics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Beauty queen-politicians Black British sportswomen Black British women politicians British barristers British beauty pageant winners British female models Commonwealth Games competitors for Anguilla Government ministers of Anguilla Living people Members of the House of Assembly of Anguilla Miss Universe 2018 contestants People from The Valley, Anguilla Politicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Women government ministers of Anguilla