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,Queen Elizabeth II is head of state and is represented in Bermuda by a Governor,whom she appoints on the advice of the British Government. The Governor has special responsibilities in four areas:external affairs,defence,internal security,and policing.
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.
The Gombey Liberation Movement (GLM),originally the Gombey Liberation Party,is a political organisation in Bermuda that contested the 2003 general election. The party did not contest the next election in 2007 and only ran its leader as a candidate in 2011. It eventually transformed itself into an organisation instead of a party having never attained a seat in the Bermuda Parliament.
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.
Sir Edward Trenton "ET" Richards was the first Black Bermudian to head the government of Bermuda and the first Premier of Bermuda. He was the leader of the United Bermuda Party (UBP) between 1971 and 1973. He was a vocal critic of segregation.
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.
The One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) is one of two political parties in Bermuda. At the 18 July 2017 general election,the party won 12 of the 36 seats in the Bermudian House of Assembly,the lower house of the Parliament of Bermuda,and is currently the official opposition. The party is a result of a May 2011 merger of most members of Bermuda's two main non-Labour parties,the United Bermuda Party and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance. Since November 2020,the leader of the party has been N.H. Cole Simons.
The Bermudan independence referendum of 1995 was a referendum held in Bermuda on 16 August 1995 over whether Bermuda should become an independent sovereign state or remain a British Dependent Territory. On a voter turnout of 58.8%,73.6% voted against independence,and 25.7% voted in favour. Following the decisive referendum result,Sir John Swan,in favour of independence,resigned as Premier of Bermuda.
Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon,born in Trinidad and Tobago,was a physician,parliamentarian,civil-rights activist and labour leader in Bermuda,and is regarded as the "father of trade unionism" there:"he championed the cause of Bermudian workers and fought for equal rights for black Bermudians,thereby laying the groundwork for much of the political and social change that came about after his death". He was president of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) 1945–55. Gordon has been described as "perhaps the only black charismatic leader to have emerged in the island's modern political history",and as "Bermuda's most dedicated Pan-Africanist".
Michael Henry Dunkley,JP,MP is a politician and businessman in Bermuda and was born June 18,1957. 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.
Clarence Eldridge James,CBE was a Bermudian surgeon and politician. He was a member of the House of Assembly of Bermuda,representing the Pembroke West Central constituency for the former the United Bermuda Party (UBP),for 21 years from 1968 to 1989. He served as the head of several government ministries,including Minister of Transport,Minister of Finance,and Minister of Health. He then served as Deputy Premier of Bermuda from 1983 to 1989,during the government of Premier John Swan.
Ann Frith Cartwright DeCouto was a Bermudian politician,lawyer and a member of the former United Bermuda Party (UBP). She served as a member of the House of Assembly of Bermuda 1983 until 1998,which included a tenure as Deputy Premier from 1989 to 1992 under Premier John Swan,as well as the head of several government ministries under the UPI during the 1980s and 1990s. Cartwright DeCouto was perhaps best known as the island's Minister of the Environment,also from 1989 to 1992. In 1990,she enforced a ban on fishing with fishpots in Bermudian waters,a move which was highly unpopular at the time. However,Cartwright DeCouto's ban on the fishpots is now widely credited with reviving Bermuda's fish stocks.
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.
The 2020 Bermudian general election was held on 1 October 2020 to elect all 36 members to the House of Assembly of Bermuda. On 21 August 2020 Premier Edward David Burt announced that Governor of Bermuda John Rankin has accepted his advice to call a snap election. The election resulted in the largest victory for one party since party politics began in Bermuda in 1968,as the Progressive Labour Party won 62% of the vote and 30 of 36 seats.
