Paulette Godwin

**Paulette Regina Godwin** (née **Thomson**, formerly **Edmonton**; born 10 June 1958) is a New Anglian politician and educator who has served as prime minister of New Anglia and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party since 2017, being the second woman to serve as prime minister and the first to lead the Democratic-Republicans. She was home secretary in the Carter ministry from 2016 until 2017, and secretary of state for education in the Dartmouth ministry from 2000 until 2004. Godwin has represented Central Park East in the House of Commons since 1992.

Born in New York City to a wealthy family, Godwin was educated at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, graduating in 1976. She subsequently enrolled in Columbia University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1980, afterwards receiving a master's degree in education from the University of New Anglia, New York in 1983. Godwin was hired as a social studies teacher at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in 1982, later becoming the school's social studies department chair in 1988, and dean of admissions in 1990.

Godwin entered politics in 1992, when she was selected to be the Democratic-Republican Party candidate for the Central Park East constituency in the 1992 election. Considered to be a Democratic-Republican safe seat, she was easily elected and took office on 15 June 1992. After taking her seat in the House of Commons, Godwin served as shadow secretary of state for culture and media from 1996 until 1997, and shadow secretary of state for education from 1997 until 2000. The party subsequently was victorious in the 2000 election, and Godwin was nominated to serve as secretary of state for education by Ed Dartmouth, where she oversaw the national public education system.

After the Democratic-Republicans lost the 2004 election, the party went into the opposition. A leadership election was called, and despite speculation, Godwin opted not to run and instead endorsed Harry Carter, who went on to place second. Godwin was appointed by leadership election winner Rudolph Lettieri to serve as shadow secretary of state for business and technology, until resigning from the shadow ministry in opposition to Lettieri in 2006. In 2007, Lettieri resigned from the leadership after losing the confidence of party members, and a second leadership election was called. This time, Godwin declared her candidacy, and emerged as a frontrunner. After splitting the vote with her close ally Carter, she opted to suspend her campaign and endorse him. Following Carter's win, he appointed Godwin to serve as shadow secretary of state for education once again, and later was appointed shadow secretary of state for home affairs in 2009, becoming one of the top four most senior members of the shadow cabinet.

Following the 2016 election, the Democratic-Republicans once again entered the government, and Godwin was nominated by Carter to serve as Home Secretary in his ministry. As home secretary, Godwin was tasked with overseeing national security, immigration, and elections in New Anglia. After serving in the position for less than a year, Carter was hospitalized following a stroke, and announced that he would resign as prime minister and party leader. A leadership election was called, and Godwin emerged as the leading candidate to continue the goals and policies of the Carter ministry. She declared her candidacy and was ultimately elected decisively, becoming the first woman to lead the Democratic-Republicans and the second to serve as prime minister. She later nominated the first Godwin ministry, which focused its efforts on immigration reform and education policy. Godwin was reelected in the 2020 election, and nominated the second Godwin ministry.

Politically, Godwin identifies as both a centrist and a moderate. She believes in minimal government interference in the economy, while incorporating "common sense" social regulations in order to preserve public safety and wellbeing. Political analysts have described Godwin as a liberal conservative and liberal, supporting moderate social policies and more conservative economic reforms. She has called education "the single most important issue within any country," and has focused much of her political career on education reform and policy.

## Early life and education

Godwin was born on 10 June 1958 in the borough of Manhattan within New York City to parents Jeffrey (1930–2008) and Regina Thomson (née *Vanderweighe*; 1933–2019). Her father worked as an anesthesiologist, while her mother was a homemaker who was active in Manhattan social circles and children's welfare charity projects. Godwin can track her paternal ancestry to Alfred Thomson, a merchant who emigrated from Aberdeen, Scotland to New York in 1685, while her mother comes from a Dutch-American family who were early settlers of New Netherland in the 17th-century. Godwin was raised in the Episcopalian faith, and is the eldest of three children; her younger siblings include Elizabeth (born 1961) and Jeffrey Jr. (born 1964).

Godwin spent her early life living in a high-rise apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The family was wealthy, being considered part of the "elite class" of Manhattanites. Godwin began her education in 1964, enrolling in the coeducational, independent preparatory school Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School. While in school, Godwin was a gifted student who was interested in history and learning about foreign cultures. She began high school in 1972, where she was an honor roll student who played on her school's varsity girls tennis team and was elected vice president of her graduating class. She graduated from the school in 1976, and was voted "Most Likely to Become Prime Minister" by her classmates.

After graduating from high school in 1976, Godwin enrolled in Columbia University. While at Columbia, Godwin majored in political science at Columbia College while also pursuing a dual minor in New Anglian studies and French language, graduating with her bachelor's degree in 1980. After graduating, Godwin was unsure of what she wanted to pursue, but ultimately decided to pursue a degree in education, enrolling at the Manhattan campus of the University of New Anglia, New York to study history education. After one year of being a full-time student, she began teaching professionally, and became a part-time student, later graduating with her education degree in 1983.

## Teaching career

Godwin first was hired as a full-time teacher in 1982, at her alma mater Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School. At the time, she was a student pursuing her education degree, but school rules did not mandate that its educators hold teaching degrees, as long as they were in the process of receiving them. She was first hired as a lower secondary school history teacher, teaching seventh and eighth graders world history. In 1984, she moved to the upper secondary school, and began teaching New Anglian history to twelfth graders.

In 1988, Godwin was promoted to the department chair of the school's history department, tasked with overseeing all history faculty members and assisting in formulating curriculum. She was later made dean of admissions in 1990, and simultaneously served in the position while still teaching courses and serving as a department chair. Throughout her teaching career, Godwin was a faculty advisor for a number of clubs and organizations, including the key club and student government association. For two years, she coached girls junior varsity tennis. Beginning with her first year teaching, Godwin additionally was a student advisor and mentor, a role similar to a guidance counselor.

## Political career

### Early career

Godwin first began her political career in 1992, after she was selected to serve as a Democratic-Republican candidate in the 1992 election, standing in the Central Park East constituency to succeed the retiring Henry Warring Johnson. Godwin was selected for the election as part of the party's initiative to diversify its parliamentary membership by recruiting more women candidates, following criticisms that its parliamentary composition was only 11% female. Following this 1992 initiative, the composition increased to 28% female. Considered to be a safe seat for the Democratic-Republicans, Godwin easily won the election after receiving 57.5% of the vote, and was elected to the House of Commons.

After being elected to parliament, Godwin focused her legislating duties on education reform. She was appointed shadow spokesperson for schools and education upon taking her seat in parliament, and became known as an advocate for strengthening school curriculum and increasing school funding. Godwin was later reelected in the 1996 election, and afterwards entered the shadow cabinet for the first time as shadow secretary of state for culture and media in the Dartmouth shadow ministry. Godwin later went on to state that she found the position to be "underwhelming," and that its focuses did not fit her areas of interest. After one year in the position, she was appointed shadow secretary of state for education, considered to be a promotion. She served in the position for three years, and was highly critical of the education policies of Helena David, especially David's decision to bus students from impoverished school districts into wealthier school districts as part of an integration program.

### Education secretary

Following the 2000 election, the Democratic-Republicans won a majority of seats and were able to form a government led by Ed Dartmouth. Dartmouth nominated Godwin to serve as secretary of state for education in his ministry, and was later appointed by Charles II to the position. As education secretary, Godwin focused on strengthening school curriculums in addition to dedicating more resources to drug awareness in schools. She created controversy in 2001, after announcing a plan to introduce homosexuality and sexual orientation to the school sexual education curriculum, but defended the change, saying that it was a "necessary piece of sex education that experts agree should be taught."

Godwin was the only member of the cabinet to remain in the same position throughout all four years, surviving the 2002 reshuffling without a promotion or demotion. She was instrumental in advocating for education reform throughout her tenure, and also spearheaded the plan to introduce tuition-free education at all public universities and colleges for students whose families earned less than $85,000 a year. Following the 2004 election, the Democratic-Republicans lost their parliamentary majority due to controversies surrounding Dartmouth, and Godwin lost her position as education secretary.

### Return to opposition

#### 2004–2008

Following the party's failure in the 2004 election, Ed Dartmouth confirmed that he would be resigning as party leader and a leadership election was called. Media outlets initially considered Godwin to be a potential candidate in the election, with a 2002 article referring to her as the woman most likely to become the first Democratic-Republican Party leader. Despite speculation, Godwin opted not to run, and instead endorsed her political ally Harry Carter. She was appointed as a co-chair for Carter's campaign, and campaigned on behalf of him throughout the country.

The leadership election was ultimately won by Rudolph Lettieri, part of the right-wing conservative faction of the party. Following the election results, Godwin stated that she was "disappointed" but would continue to work on behalf of the party. Lettieri appointed Godwin to serve as shadow secretary of state for business and technology in his shadow ministry. The move was said to be an insult to Godwin, who had been campaigning for a more senior position. After serving in the position for two years, Godwin resigned from the shadow cabinet after secretly recorded comments of Lettieri referring to Iman Shiba as a "Muslim witch" were leaked to the press, calling the comments "sexist, xenophobic, and disgusting." After continuous controversy and party fracturing, Lettieri resigned from the party leadership in 2007, and a new leadership election was called. Godwin declared her candidacy in the election in May 2007, running on a platform of centrism, pragmatism, and a return to normalcy. She emerged as one of the top three frontrunners, along with Carter and Samantha Victor-James. Running on a similar platform to Carter and being close political allies, Godwin suspended her campaign prior to the party vote in order to prevent Victor-James from winning due to her and Carter splitting the centrist vote. She subsequently endorsed Carter's campaign, who went on to win the election.

Following Carter's win, Godwin was reappointed shadow secretary of state for education in the first Carter shadow ministry. While the media initially reported that the appointment was a slight to Godwin, whom was expected to take up a more senior position, Godwin later reassured the media that there was no bad blood between her and Carter, and that she had requested the position in order to take up a lighter workload due to her father's cancer diagnosis.

#### 2008–2016

Following the 2008 election, Godwin was reappointed shadow secretary of state for education by Carter in his second shadow ministry. A 2009 snap election was declared the following year, where the Democratic-Republicans increased their seat count but remained in the opposition. Afterwards, Godwin was appointed by Carter to serve as shadow secretary of state for home affairs in his third shadow ministry, becoming one of the top four most senior opposition politicians.

As shadow home secretary, Godwin shadowed Jonathan Bates and was outspoken in her criticism of his immigration and national security policies. In 2010, she was highly critical of Bates's decision to allow individuals convicted of violent crimes abroad to be granted New Anglian tourism visas, stating that he was "endangering the lives of millions of New Anglians." The party subsequently increased their parliamentary representation in the 2012 election, despite remaining in the opposition.

### Home secretary

After the 2016 election, the Democratic-Republicans returned to the majority for the first time in more than a decade. Carter was appointed prime minister, and he nominated Godwin to serve as home secretary in his Carter ministry, while she was later appointed to the position by Charles II. As home secretary, Godwin was one of the most senior government officials, responsible for national security, immigration, and election security.

During her tenure as home secretary, Godwin supported stricter immigration reform that invited skilled laborers to immigrate to the country, but enacted restrictions on unskilled laborers. She was supportive of refugees, but tightened regulations that determined who was considered a refugee and who could apply for asylum in New Anglia. Godwin was criticized by immigrants rights organizations for her reliance on deportations, approving the deportations of 450,000 undocumented immigrants in her year-long tenure.

### Prime minister

In December 2016, Carter suffered a stroke while in a cabinet meeting. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was put under 24-hour surveillance. Three hours after the announcement of his stroke, Carter publicly tendered his resignation as prime minister and party leader in order to prioritize his health, and called for an "immediate" leadership election to be held. Godwin was the first candidate to declare her candidacy, and was subsequently endorsed by a number Democratic-Republican Party elites, including Carter. She faced only party rising star Jason Abigail and right-wing conservative Samantha Victor-James in the election, where she won decisively with 65.6% of the vote.

Following her victory in the leadership election, Godwin was sworn in as prime minister of New Anglia and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, becoming the second woman to serve as prime minister and the first to lead the Democratic-Republicans. She later nominated her first ministry, which was hailed as the first New Anglian ministry to be comprised of an equal amount of men and women. Godwin was reelected in the 2020 election, and nominated the second Godwin ministry.

## Personal life

After being elected to the House of Commons in 1992, Godwin began renting a one-bedroom apartment in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. for parliamentary business, although she primarily continued to reside in New York City. After taking office as prime minister in 2017, she moved into Number One Observatory Circle, the traditional residence of the prime minister.

Godwin is a member of the Episcopalian faith, although she only attends religious services on Christmas Eve. Godwin is bilingual, being fluent in both English and French, and also knowing "the basics" of Dutch.

### Relationships and family

Godwin began a relationship with New Anglian attorney John Edmonton in 1978, while both were students at Columbia University. They became engaged after one year of dating, and later married in 1980, just one month after their university graduation. They had three children together: Emily (born 1985) and fraternal twins Gabriel and Rebecca (born 1988). Emily later was a competitor at Miss New Anglia 2005. The family resided in a high-rise apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.

In 1990, Godwin filed for divorce from Edmonton, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was later finalized the following year, and Godwin reportedly received a large divorce settlement. Following their divorce, Godwin has stated that she became the "black sheep of the family" for "quite some time." Godwin's three children were primarily raised by her, but spent every other weekend with their father and stepmother.

In 1994, she began a relationship with New York University School of Law professor Edgar Godwin, and they later married in 1996; Godwin subsequently adopted her husband's surname professionally, after being known as Paulette Edmonton in her early political career. After their marriage, Edgar became stepfather to Godwin's three children, and they moved into a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.