HAMILTON, Bermuda – The ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) has named union leader and senator Jason Hayward to contest a by-election in Pembroke Central on November 21 following the sudden death of government backbencher Walton Brown.
Premier David Burt made the announcement on Friday, even though an e-mail sent to the Royal Gazette newspaper said 65 per cent of branch members voted last Sunday against Hayward – the president of the Bermuda Public Services Union (BPSU) – and that a motion to field Jamaine Smith was ignored by Burt, who attended the meeting.
Burt responded by saying that candidate selection was an internal matter for the party, adding that Hayward, who became head of the BPSU in 2014 and a senator in 2017, was “a household name for his vigorous defence of, and his advocacy for, workers’ rights in Bermuda”.
“Without question he is a man of the people who has put himself on the frontline to ensure that he stands up for the rights of Bermudians. He is a progressive thinker who is committed to challenging the status quo that exists in this country. I am absolutely certain that he will be an asset to our team in the House of Assembly.”
Hayward said that the circumstances made his nomination “somewhat bittersweet”.
“I don’t stand here with the intent to walk in his shoes, but what I expect to do is continue his unwavering commitment to public service.”
Hayward said that he intended to focus on workers’ rights and “social and economic inequalities” if elected.
The PLP currently holds 25 of the 36 seats in the House of Assembly.
Brown, a former cabinet minister who died last month aged 59, had won Pembroke Central at the last two general elections, even though the PLP lost power to the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) in 2012.
The opposition OBA, which was defeated in the 2017 election, is expected to name Nick Kempe, a senator, as its candidate in the by-elelction after Andrew Simons, who lost to Brown in the last two elections, withdrew from the race. (CMC)