Now the hard work begins.

Paula Cox received a massive endorsement from the Progressive Labour Party when she was elected as its leader last night. Now she has the job as Premier of leading the whole Country. The first order of business will be the selection of the Cabinet and Senators and there is no better time for a new leader to put their stamp on the Government than this.

The Cabinet appointments are probably the most important means of healing divisions within the PLP and the Country. There is a good deal of talent and experience on the backbenches and some of it should be utilised, although the guiding principle should always be to put the best possible Cabinet team together.

Such a team is going to be needed, because the new administration faces monumental challenges on crime and the economy.

Ms Cox will have the opportunity very quickly to show how she plans to tackle those issues as she must quickly get down to drafting the Throne Speech, which will be delivered early next month and will outline the Government's plans for the next year.

Some of these plans, especially much of the legislative programme, will be set down already, but this is Ms Cox's chance to set the tone and style that her Government will follow. The importance of this should not be underestimated. Nothing resounds like solid accomplishments and promises kept, but a large part of the Premier's power lies in the ability to set a direction and an approach to Government.

Many people, within and without the PLP, have expressed unhappiness with the divisions within the party and within Bermuda society. The new Premier can work to heal those wounds, or she can rub salt in them. Just how she speaks and moves forward from here will determine that. While there are other issues crowding the agenda, it is especially important that she addresses crime and the economy.

On crime, although the Police say the overall trend is going down, and that may be so, the frequency of murders and gun crimes is going in the opposite direction.

While the Police are making mighty efforts on the enforcement side, the Government needs to do more to change the conditions that lead to this kind of crime. A programme like the Ceasefire programme, along with meaningful anti-gang legislation of the sort in place in Canada would be a good start. Education, support for families and other social initiatives take longer to work, but are needed.

More importantly, Bermudians need jobs. There's no doubt that crime and the economy are intertwined. The employment figures – from 2009 – released yesterday contain an estimated unemployment rate of 4.5 percent which must be much higher by now. In that environment, the likelihood of crime rising increases as well, so turning the economy around will reduce the risk of crime as well.

Of course, a growing economy has other benefits as well. A growing economy creates its own confidence and certainty about the future; confidence which is lacking now. As has been stated previously, there is also a sense that Bermuda has lost its "mojo" or sense of itself.

Here too, Ms Cox, by giving clear direction of where she wants the Country to go, can restore confidence. Symbolically, she can move quickly, notably by reducing the scale of the "imperial Premiership" practised by her predecessor, and by cutting costs at the Cabinet Office.

That won't do much to trim the deficit, but the symbolism, both of cutting costs and of shared sacrifice in these hard times, will pay massive dividends.