HAMILTON, Bermuda – Attorney John Barritt will be sworn in as Opposition Leader today after seven legislators belonging to the United Bermuda Party (UBP) quit to join the newly formed One Bermuda Alliance (OBA).
Barritt replaces Kim Swan who resigned yesterday.
The seven legislators – Barritt, Trevor Moniz, Cole Simons, Bob Richards, Louise Jackson, Grant Gibbons and Patricia Gordon-Pamplin –quit the 47-year-old party that ran the island for 30 years until it was ousted from power by the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) 13 years ago.
“Seven of us have resigned from the UBP. It’s been clear for some time that the people of Bermuda want a unified opposition. They want a new day,” said Moniz. The seven parliamentarians say their action is the only way to move forward with a temporary court injunction preventing them from signing the merger papers as members of the UBP.
The former UBP MPs will team up with three Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) legislators – Shawn Crockwell, Mark Pettingill and Donte Hunt – to form the new opposition party, with 10 MPs in the House of Assembly under the OBA banner. The three BDA MPs were among five MPs who quit the UBP after the 2007 general election. As a result of the latest defection, only party leader Kim Swan and Charlie Swan will represent the party in Parliament.
In the last general election, the PLP won 22 seats to the UBP’s 14. (CMC)
