Bermudian general election, 2007

Last updated
Bermudian general election, 2007
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←  2003 18 December 2007 2012  →
All 36 seats in the Bermuda House of Assembly
19 seats needed for a majority

 First partySecond party
  Ewart Brown.JPG Michael Dunkley 2015.jpg
Leader Ewart Brown Michael Dunkley
Party PLP UBP
Leader sinceOctober 2006March 2007
Leader's seatWarwick South CentralSmith's North
(defeated)
Last election2214
Seats won2214
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote16,80015,161
Percentage52.45%47.34%
Bermuda electoral results, 2007.svg
Constituencies in Bermuda
Premier of Bermuda before election

Ewart Brown
PLP

Elected Premier of Bermuda

Ewart Brown
PLP

Bermuda
Coat of arms of Bermuda.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Bermuda

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 British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean

Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 1,070 km (665 mi) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; 1,236 km (768 mi) south of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia; and 1,759 km (1,093 mi) northeast of Cuba. The capital city is Hamilton. Bermuda is self-governing, with its own constitution and its own government, which enacts local laws, while the United Kingdom retains responsibility for defence and foreign relations. As of July 2018, its population is 71,176, the highest of the British overseas territories.

House of Assembly of Bermuda

The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. The house has 36 Members of Parliament (MPs), elected for a term of five years in single seat constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. Bermuda now has universal voting with a voting age of 18 years. Voting is non-compulsory. The presiding officer of the House is called the Speaker.

Progressive Labour Party (Bermuda) political party of Bermuda

The BermudaProgressive 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.

Contents

Background

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]

Self-governance, self-government, or autonomy is an abstract concept that applies to several scales of organization.

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]

British Overseas Territories territory under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom but not part of it

The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are 14 territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and, with the exception of Gibraltar, are not part of the European Union. Most of the permanently inhabited territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations. Three are inhabited only by a transitory population of military or scientific personnel. They all share the British monarch as head of state.

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]

Ewart Brown Bermudian politician

Ewart Frederick Brown Jr. was the ninth Premier of Bermuda and former leader of the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) from 2006 to 2010. He was the Member of Parliament for Warwick South Central from 1993 to 2010.

Michael Dunkley Bermudian politician

Michael Henry Dunkley, JP, MP was born June 18, 1958. He was an MP and member general of the One Bermuda Alliance political party and an active businessman on the island.

Campaign

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]

An electoral district, (election) precinct, election district, or legislative district, called a voting district by the US Census is a territorial subdivision for electing members to a legislative body. Generally, only voters (constituents) who reside within the district are permitted to vote in an election held there. From a single district, a single member or multiple members might be chosen. Members might be chosen by a first-past-the-post system or a proportional representative system, or another voting method entirely. Members might be chosen through a direct election under universal suffrage, an indirect election, or another form of suffrage.

Opinion poll type of survey

An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a poll or a survey, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.

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]

Results

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] [13]

e  •  d  Summary of the 18 December 2007 House of Assembly of Bermuda election results
PartiesCandidatesVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Progressive Labour Party 3616,80052.45%Increase2.svg0.8122Steady2.svg
United Bermuda Party 3615,16147.34%Decrease2.svg0.6414Steady2.svg
Independents 2670.21%Increase2.svg0.040Steady2.svg
Total (turnout %)7432,028100.0%36
Source: Parliamentary Registry

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Close finish expected in Bermuda polls". Jamaica Gleaner . 2007-12-17. Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  2. 1 2 "Regions and territories: Bermuda". BBC Online. 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  3. ↑ "Michael Dunkley to lead the UBP". Bermuda Sun. 2007-03-30. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  4. 1 2 3 "General election will be held on Tuesday, December 18". Bermuda Sun. 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bermuda gears up for general election". International Herald Tribune . 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Bermuda's ruling party wins election focused on corruption, racial resentment". International Herald Tribune . 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  7. 1 2 Hall, Tim (2007-12-18). "Bermuda poll 'is a test of welcome'". The Daily Telegraph . p. 17.
  8. 1 2 "Rich island of Bermuda votes in general election". International Herald Tribune . 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  9. ↑ "Election pledge causes row in Bermuda". Radiojamaica.com. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  10. ↑ "UBP to PLP: Don't twist our words on long term residents". The Royal Gazette . 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2009-03-15.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. 1 2 "PLP wins the election". Bermuda Sun. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  12. ↑ "Britain's oldest colony Bermuda returns ruling party to power for third term". Daily Mail . 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
  13. ↑ "UBP counts the cost of heavy defeat". Bermuda Sun. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
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