Jessica Anne Jordan Burton (born 6 May 1984 in Bath, Somerset, England) is a politician and a former model.
Jessica is the only child of an English father and Bolivian mother, Aida Burton. Her father, Andrew Keith Jordan is a petroleum engineer. In addition to Bolivia, Jessica has also lived in England, Scotland, the USA and Brazil.
In her youth Jessica was very interested in sport and travelling and her mother worried that she was a bit too ‘tomboyish’ and not ‘girly’ enough. At about 16 years of age her mother enrolled her into modelling classes, which Jessica found she enjoyed. As a result, Jessica went on to participate in numerous fashion competitions in Europe the USA and Mexico as well as having succeeded in many beauty competitions. These include Miss Mundo Latina, which she won in Miami in 2003. Jessica Jordan succeeded Desiree Durán who won the Miss Bolivia title in 2005, and Miss Bolivia Universe in 2006. In addition, she was crowned Reina Internacional del Café 2008.
Jessica had acquired an interest in politics from her mother and states that she always wanted to help her country. Her beauty title gave her the opportunity to meet people of influence, which culminated in her meeting the country’s president, Evo Morales. President Morales invited Jessica to stand for Governor in the very marginal constituency of Beni, in which the president’s party Movimiento Al Socialismo had previously lost by 25,000 votes. Jessica did not win, losing by 2,900 votes (having narrowed the gap). She nonetheless obtained 40% of the votes and the President then asked her to become Director of Development in Beni. Critics say that this position puts her in competition with the elected Governor.
Jessica is responsible for a budget of $700m dollars (USD) a year for Beni, to be spent on roads, nurseries, hospitals, etc.
