The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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, which represented itself as

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

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 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 ...

History

Foundation and government, 1964-1998

The United Bermuda Party was founded on 21 August 1964, by 24 members of Bermuda's Parliament, following the formation of the Progressive Labour Party the previous year. Sir Henry Tucker became the leader of the new party. The party won 30 of the 40 seats at the 1968 election and formed the first government and Tucker was appointed Bermuda's first

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

. under Bermuda's new constitution and universal adult suffrage. The party was loosely modelled on the UK's

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. From 1968 until 1998, the UBP won 8 straight elections. The 1970s saw the UBP majority in Parliament decline as the PLP grew in strength. This trend was halted when Sir John Swan became party leader and Premier on 15 January 1982. Under Swan's leadership, the second black man to lead the party, the UBP control of Parliament strengthened at the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and 1985 elections (where it reached an all-time high of 31 seats), though this trend ended at the 1989 election. The 1990s were a troubling time for the party as the PLP increasingly gained seats. Following the 1993 election, the UBP held 22 seats. In 1995, Swan held a referendum on independence, which was soundly defeated. He had promised to resign if the measure was defeated as a sign of his support for the issue, and kept his word. He was replaced by

David Saul David John Saul (Warwick, 27 November 1939 – Devonshire, 15 May 2017) was a Bermudian politician who was the Premier of Bermuda from 1995 to 1997. Political career Having finished his career in business David Saul was elected in 1989 from the Un ...

, who was soon replaced by Pamela Gordon, Bermuda's youngest Premier, and the first woman to hold the office.

Opposition and disbanding, 1998-2011

At the 1998 election, the PLP defeated the UBP for the first time, marking the first time in over 30 years that the UBP was not in power. At the 2003 election, the party won 48.0% of popular votes and 14 out of 36 seats under the leadership of Grant Gibbons. In January 2006, Gibbons was replaced by Wayne Furbert, who was unanimously selected as the new party leader. On 3 April 2007, Michael Dunkley replaced Furbert as party leader. Dunkley lost his seat at the 2007 election, and was replaced as leader by

Kim Swan Hubert "Kim" E. Swan (born 4 October 1957) 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 Opp ...

. The party's deputy leader was long-standing maverick MP

Trevor Moniz Trevor Gerard Moniz is a Portuguese- Bermudian politician who served as Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs in the Government of Bermuda from 2014 to 2017. He attended Saltus Grammar School and studied law at King's College London ...

, a recognised champion of Bermuda's Portuguese community. On 3 May 2011, the UBP executive voted to merge with the

Bermuda Democratic Alliance 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. History The BDA was founded on 5 November 2009, by six defecti ...

(BDA), to form the

(OBA). However, leader Kim Swan refused to join after the executive failed to allow a disputes tribunal under the United Bermuda Party constitution to take place, and was granted an injunction in the courts. In response, seven UBP MPs resigned from the UBP and joined with the sitting BDA members under the OBA banner. While Kim Swan and Charles Swan remained as UBP Members of Parliament, the OBA replaced the UBP as the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

party. On 29 June 2011, the UBP announced that its offices would close and it would cease to operate on the following day.

Revival, 2011-2012

In November 2011, the two remaining UBP MPs, Kim Swan and Charlie Swan, announced their intention to revive the UBP and to have it contest the next Bermudian election. The party's website was updated and election posters prepared. The two MPs were the only two announced candidates for the party. A March 2012 poll reported that the revived party had about 1% of voter support. When an election was called for 17 December 2012, Kim and Charlie Swan announced they would run as independent candidates, effectively ending the revival attempt.Royal Gazette (14 November 2012)
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Leaders of the United Bermuda Party

Platform

The United Bermuda Party's stated core objectives were: # To promote Bermuda's social, moral, economic and political welfare. # To develop Bermuda's unity and understanding. # The ensure freedom and opportunity. # To enforce the rights granted by the Bermuda Constitution. # To maintain economic and political stability under a

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

economy. # To provide a sound, responsible and democratic government.

References

External links

Official website
{{Bermudian political parties Defunct political parties in Bermuda Political parties established in 1964 Political parties disestablished in 2011 1964 establishments in Bermuda 2011 disestablishments in Bermuda Conservative parties in British Overseas Territories