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All 36 seats in the Bermuda House of Assembly 19 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held in Bermuda on 18 December 2007 to elect all 36 members of the House of Assembly. The incumbent Progressive Labour Party (PLP) led by Ewart Brown was returned for a third term, with 22 of the 36 seats of the House of Assembly, with the opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) winning the remaining 14 seats.
Bermuda gained internal self government with the introduction of a constitution in 1968 and for the first 30 years afterwards the United Bermuda Party was in power. Their domination was broken by defeat in the 1998 election leading to the Progressive Labour Party winning government for the first time. The PLP government was returned at the 2003 election, winning 22 seats compared to 14 seats for the United Bermuda Party. [1]
Bermuda remains a British overseas territory; independence was rejected in a referendum in 1995. However, in 2004 the then Premier of Bermuda, called for a debate on independence to take place. [2]
Ewart Brown became Premier in October 2006, defeating the incumbent, William Alexander Scott, in a contest for the leadership of PLP, [2] while in March 2007 Michael Dunkley became leader of the opposition United Bermuda Party, ousting Wayne Furbert. [3]
On 2 November 2007, Premier Brown announced that the election would be held on 18 December. [4] Both main parties put up 36 candidates and there were two independent candidates. Altogether 42,337 people were registered to vote with each constituency having about 1,100 voters. [1] [5] An opinion poll in the summer had put the UBP on 40%, the PLP on 34% and 26% undecided. Analysts saw 7 of the 36 seats as likely to be close. [4]
The incumbent PLP campaigned on the basis of their record where they said they had increased tourism and attracted development to Bermuda. [5] They pledged that they would introduce free day care, bus and ferry transportation if they were re-elected. [6] With Bermuda having a population that was 60% of African descent, the PLP said that votes for the UBP were a vote for white people. [7] They used the example of two black people who had left the UBP earlier in the year after saying that the white elite was still in control of the party. [4]
The election was seen as being partly contested on the performance of Premier Brown. The UBP described him as a polarizing figure and accused him of being involved in corruption. [5] [8] A police dossier had alleged there was corruption in the public housing corporation, but prosecutors said they could not find any evidence of illegality. [6] The PLP, however, described their leader as "the man who gets things done". [5]
The UBP criticised the PLP for having failed to create enough affordable housing and for their plans for enforcing racial equality in the workplace. [6] [8] A former UBP premier said that the PLP's plan to fine companies if they did not promote black people to senior posts could drive away many expatriates and companies from Bermuda. [7] The UBP said that, if they were elected, they would give Bermudian status to everyone who had lived in Bermuda for more than 20 years, which the PLP said would be a mistake which could lead to 8,000 more Bermudians. [9] [10]
Also at issue in the election was both parties' policies over independence for Bermuda. Premier Brown was in favour of independence but his party said that this was just a long-term goal and that they would not use the election as the basis for a push for independence. The UBP said that they would hold a referendum if they won the election and said that Bermuda should not become independent unless there was clear support in a referendum. An opinion poll in 2007 had shown that around two-thirds of Bermudians were opposed to independence. [5]
The campaign lasted six weeks, the longest ever in Bermuda, and was seen as being very bitter. Polls showed the election was tight with analysts saying that they expected the result to be close. During the campaign there was an incident when someone attempted to mail a bullet to Premier Brown, but it was intercepted by a postal worker, which led both parties to try to calm the campaign down. [1] [11]
The results of the election saw no change from the 2003 election with the Progressive Labour Party still winning 22 seats and the United Bermuda Party 14 seats. [6] The leader of the United Bermuda Party, Michael Dunkley, failed to win election in Smith's North losing by 444 votes to 536. [11] He had given up his safe seat of Devonshire East to try to overturn the United Bermuda Party's deficit by winning a marginal seat. [1] [12]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Labour Party | 16,800 | 52.45 | 22 | 0 | |
| United Bermuda Party | 15,161 | 47.34 | 14 | 0 | |
| Independents | 67 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 32,028 | 100.00 | 36 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 32,028 | 99.81 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 62 | 0.19 | |||
| Total votes | 32,090 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 42,295 | 75.87 | |||
| Source: Caribbean Elections | |||||
Bermuda is the oldest British Overseas Territory, and the oldest self-governing British Overseas Territory, and has a great degree of internal autonomy through authority and roles of governance delegated to it by the national Government. Its parliament held its first session in 1620, making it the third-oldest continuous parliament in the world. As part of the British realm, King Charles III is head of state and is represented in Bermuda by a Governor, whom he appoints on the advice of the British Government. The Governor has special responsibilities in four areas: external affairs, defence, internal security, and policing.
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Elections in the Bahamas take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy. Since independence, voter turnout has been generally high in national elections, with a low of 87.9% in 1987 and a high of 98.5% in 1997. The current Prime Minister is The Hon. Philip Davis.
The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was a political party in Bermuda, which represented itself as centrist party with a moderate social and fiscal agenda. The party held power in Bermuda's House of Assembly continuously from 1968 to 1998, the 47-year-old party was dissolved on 30 June 2011 after the majority of its members joined the One Bermuda Alliance.
The Progressive Labour Party (PLP) is one of the two political parties in Bermuda. At the 18 July 2017 general election, the party won 24 of the 36 seats in the Bermudian House of Assembly to become the governing party. The party was founded in 1963, the first political party in Bermuda, and the oldest still active. It formed government from 1998 to 2012, and again since 2017.
Racial polarization is the process whereby a population of individuals with different ancestry is divided into separate and distinct racial groups.
Ewart Frederick Brown Jr. is a politician and physician who served as the ninth Premier of Bermuda and leader of the country's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) from 2006 to 2010. He represented Warwick South Central as a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2010.
Dame Lois Marie Browne-Evans DBE JP was a lawyer and political figure in Bermuda. She led the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) in opposition before being appointed Bermuda's first female Attorney-General. She first gained recognition in 1953 as Bermuda's first female barrister. Browne-Evans died of a suspected stroke on 29 May 2007, three days before her 80th birthday.
Hubert "Kim" E. Swan is a Bermudian professional golfer and politician. He was reelected for the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) in July 2017. He was a member of parliament from 2007 to 2012, where he was Leader of the Opposition of Bermuda from 21 January 2008 until 16 May 2011. He also served as a UBP Senator from 1998 to 2007.
The Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) was a political party in Bermuda which lasted from its foundation in November 2009 until its merger into the One Bermuda Alliance in May 2011.
The One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) is one of two political parties in Bermuda with elected members of the Bermuda's legislative assembly. It was created in May 2011 by the merger of most members of Bermuda's two non-Labour parties, the United Bermuda Party and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance. It won the 2012 election and governed until 2017. Since then, it has been the official opposition in Bermuda's Assembly. Since November 2020, the leader of the party has been N.H. Cole Simons.
An independence referendum was held in Bermuda on 16 August 1995 for voters to decide whether Bermuda should become an independent sovereign state or remain a British Dependent Territory. On a voter turnout of 59%, 74% voted against independence. Following the decisive result, Premier John Swan, who had been in favour of independence, resigned.
Craig Cannonier is a Bermudian politician, who served as Premier of Bermuda from 18 December 2012 until his resignation on 19 May 2014. He has also served as the leader of the One Bermuda Alliance since 10 September 2011.
Michael Henry Dunkley, JP, MP is a Bermudian politician and businessman who served as the 12th Premier of Bermuda from 2014 to 2017. He was an MP and member general of the One Bermuda Alliance political party and an active businessman on the island.
Robert Vaughan Barritt was a Bermudian artist, painter and politician. He served in the House of Assembly of Bermuda from 1985 to 1989 representing Pembroke East Central, marking the only time that the United Bermuda Party (UBP) held that particular constituency. Barritt held the post of Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs during his tenure in the House of Assembly. Barritt was later appointed to the Senate of Bermuda as a member of the UBP. He was a member of the Barritts, a prominent Bermudian political and business family which owns Barritt's Ginger Beer.
The Hon. Marc A. Bean, JP, MP is a Bermudian politician, and the former Leader of the Opposition. Bean was a Member of Bermuda's Parliament since winning a by-election in 2010, securing the seat of Warwick South Central for the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party (PLP). Previously, Bean had served in the Bermuda Senate. While in government, Bean held various ministerial and junior ministerial portfolios, including Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy. In September 2020, he announced that he was forming a new political party, the Free Democratic Movement, to contest the 2020 Bermudian general election.
General elections were held in Bermuda on 18 July 2017 to elect all 36 members to the House of Assembly. The result was a victory for the opposition Progressive Labour Party, which won 24 of the 36 seats. Incumbent Premier Michael Dunkley subsequently resigned as leader of the One Bermuda Alliance. Bob Richards, a senior minister and deputy premier in Dunkley's government unexpectedly lost his Devonshire East seat.
Gloria Juanita McPhee OBE was a Bermudian politician who served as a member of the House of Assembly from 1968 to 1980, representing the United Bermuda Party (UBP). She was a government minister from 1968 to 1977, the first woman appointed to the ministry.
