By all accounts Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox has had a busy year.

In the last session she successfully steered through the groundbreaking Criminal Code Amendment Act which rewrites how Bermuda's deals with its repeat offenders.

And after stormy meetings up and down the country she tabled proposals to at last grant greater rights to hundreds of ex-pats kept in limbo for more than a decade.

She also drafted new regulations restricting work permit stays, tackled numerous crises at the main prison, Westgate Correctional Facility, and yet still found time to hold down a high-powered job at the Bank of Bermuda.

Asked about her contribution in the House and her party she will modestly says that her constituents and press should give the verdict.

But her ability to efficiently manage one of the toughest briefs in Government has won accolades from political friends and foe alike - a far cry from her initial fears.

As she told The Royal Gazette when entering government in 1998: "I thought, Oh my God, what if I cock it up?"

Opposition MPs have privately praised Ms. Cox's thorough approach while she has many admirers on her own side although her studious, measured approach is hardly designed to catch the eye.

When the House of Assembly is in uproar she sometimes resembles the good student who continues with her work while the rest of her classmates kick up a fuss while the teacher is out of the room.

But if she can seem detached from the heat of the debate, rising only occasionally on points of her order, the truth is that politics is in her blood ever since the days she used to watch her father and mentor Eugene from the public gallery as a child.

After spells working behind the scenes for the party she was elected as its press officer before her entering the House of Assembly at a by-election triumph on her home turf of Devonshire in 1996.

She fought off strong competition from experienced PLP politicians such as Terry Lister and Julian Hall for the nomination to former leader Freddie Wade's old seat.

Since then her rise had been meteoric.

A year after her election she was given a front bench post and in the PLP's historic 1998 election victory she managed to get more votes than her running mate and high profile figure Dame Lois Brown-Evans.

Ms Cox was then handed one of the toughest posts in Government before the age of 40.

As she said on her appointment: "Everything here is important - immigration, labour relations, the police side."

But her co-operative working style has helped take much of the sting out of potentially explosive changes on many fronts.

Commenting after the Minister's March announcement of six-year work permit time limits for the bulk of Bermuda's ex-pat workers then President of the Chamber of Commerce Cris Valdez-Dapena said of Ms. Cox: "The competitive interests she was required to balance were challenging. You can't achieve perfection but she strived mightily."

Her Employment Act, which put in place laws to protect workers and employers, won praise from unions and employers as well as arch-Government opponents such as the United Bermuda Party's Maxwell Burgess who described the bill as "Governance at its best".

The row over granting rights to long-term residents was never likely to be anything less than incendiary with such diverse camps.

However Ms Cox says the move to limiting work permits was her toughest task as business sought maximum job freedom while locals feared for their own prospects.

"It was so hotly contested with such different view points. The long term residents white paper might be the most significant thing but it seemed to follow on from the work permit issue.

"I can't say it the long term residents issue was easy but it seemed less difficult than dealing with the work permit issue.

Now, she says, immigration is less of a sore point with locals now.

"When I became the minister we used to have so many letters of complaint. That's started to peter out now. That's a barometer."

Acting as an honest broker comes naturally says Ms. Cox.

"Part of being a woman is that I am not out there to prove anything or be dogmatic. But that doesn't mean I am soft."

This is confirmed by colleagues who say beneath the demure exterior there is a tough core.

Progressive Labour Party backbencher Dale Butler says: "She's one of the most astute ministers we have. She's very encouraging, very helpful, and very thorough.

"But doesn't tolerate fools. If she has to take the knife out and put you in your place she will. And she's not one of these people who will go behind your back. She may be quiet but she's not afraid to stand up for herself.

"She's got a great sense of humour and she gets the job done."

Her success could also mark her out as a future leader of her party.

"She's would be up there among the front runners," says Mr. Butler.

"Because she's a bit shy people might say that's not in her favour. But I think she's got a lot going for her, she's not flamboyant but she leaves that to others."

And she makes no secret of her long term ambitions in politics, vowing to fight on should she lose her current seat under a redrawn electoral map.

Pressed on her ultimate ambitions, including the leadership of her party and country, she admits: "It would be false to say I didn't aspire to that but it's not on the immediate agenda."

Which is not to say her career so far has all been plain sailing.

In-mate unrest, sit-ins and creaking security at Westgate caused her big headaches and saw opposite number Michael Dunkley scoring direct hits.

And sometimes her shyness can get the better of her - she can occasionally appear nervous in the House and on the phone - a charge she refutes.

"I like the House part, it's part of being a lawyer wanting to perform, being a wordsmith, you test your mettle."

Ironically, journalism was the career she first aspired to after a spell as a teenage reporter covering the court beat but hankering after more investigative work, which she said was neglected in those days.

She says: "I wanted to be the editor of the Royal Gazette but I thought at the time it would take too long."

"I remember having a cloak and dagger meeting at the Robin Hood with someone who was involved in the drugs trade in Bermuda. It was one of those people issues I felt we needed to talk about more."

She then went into law, which she saw as offering the same independence as writing. This career has seen her rise to the post of Senior Legal Counsel at the Bank of Bermuda's Global Fund Services where she drafts and reviews documents.

Combining politics and work leads to gruelling days split between the bank and the ministry and interrupted weekends where constituency surgeries can see people from all over the island turning up to take advantage of a chance to speak one-to-one with a minister.

She says of her working day: "I am generally in the bank by 7.15 in the morning and I have an understanding employer."

Asked about her role models she picks her family as inspirations mentioning her father first but than adding her former teacher mother Alinda also had a quiet strength.

Of political colleagues she is keen to praise those who might be overlooked after the obligatory nod to more obvious frontbenchers such as Premier Jennifer Smith and Dame Lois Browne-Evans.

"Ottiwell Simmons tries to be a peacemaker and as tremendous charm which he uses to good effect."

She also praises Elvin James and Reginald Burrows.

Some might see her a role model herself but she says the modern world does not quite work like that.

"Young people today don't think about locals, they think about sports stars and music stars who have glamour and material success. But I don't know if I am seen as a role model. I am probably a bit dated for them."

But today's teens might need to sit up and take note - Paula Cox could be playing a role in their lives for some time yet.