One Bermuda Alliance
One Bermuda Alliance | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Particia Gordon-Pamplin (interim) |
| Founded | 17 May 2011 |
| Preceded by | United Bermuda Party |
| Headquarters |
Reid Street, Hamilton, Bermuda |
| Political position | Centre-right[1] |
| UK affiliation | none |
| Senate |
3 / 11 |
| Assembly |
12 / 36 |
| Website | |
| http://www.oba.bm | |
The One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) is one of two political parties operating in Bermuda. As a result of the 18 July 2017 general election, it is the official opposition. The party is a result of a May 2011 merger of most members of Bermuda's two main opposition parties, the United Bermuda Party and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance.
History
The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was founded in 1964 and won every Bermuda election until 1998, when it lost to the Progressive Labour Party. The UBP remained the official opposition party until 2011.
The Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) was formed in 2009 by breakaway members of the UBP that believed only a new party could win support from the PLP. It contested one by-election in December 2010, placing third behind the PLP and UBP, with the PLP retaining about the same support level that it had in the 2007 general election.[2] Concern that vote-splitting among the two opposition parties would result in an easy victory for the governing PLP prompted the BDA and UBP to enter merger talks.
The initial intention of UBP and BDA negotiators was to formally merge the two parties,[3] but when UBP leader Kim Swan sought an injunction to block the merger, seven sitting MPs of the UBP quit their former party and joined the three BDA members to become Bermuda's new official opposition on May 17, 2011.[4]
The party held its inaugural leadership convention on September 10, 2011, where the former BDA leader, Senator Craig Cannonier, narrowly won the party leadership over challenger Everard T. (Bob) Richards, the party's shadow finance minister.[5] Michael Dunkley took over as party leader and Premier after the resignation of Craig Cannonier on 19 May 2014.[6]
The party won the 2012 elections, taking 19 of the 36 seats in the House of Assembly.[7] With the departure of two members to become independents in March 2017, the party lost its parliamentary majority and was forced to call an election for 18 July 2017. The party lost the election to the PLP, retaining 12 of 36 seats, prompting Dunkley to resign as party leader the following day.[8]
Policies
The party's initial slogan was "Putting Bermuda First." Its policies on its foundation included:
- balancing the budget in its first term
- cutting Ministerial pay by at least 10%
- allocating more government contracts to small business
- additional resources for police
- introducing a fully integrated technical curriculum and a longer school day
- having fixed term elections, right to petition for referendums and recall of MPs.
Party leaders
| Leader | Entered office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| John Barritt (interim) | May 2011 | September 2011 |
| Craig Cannonier | September 2011 | May 2014 |
| Michael Dunkley | May 2014 | July 2017 |
| Particia Gordon-Pamplin (interim) | July 2017 |
Election Results
| General election | # of candidates | # of elected candidates | total votes | % of popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 36 | 12 | 13,832 | 40.61% |
| 2012 | 36 | 19 | 15,949 | 51.7% |
References
- ↑ https://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=531970037&Country=Bermuda&topic=Politics&subtopic=Forecast&subsubtopic=Political+stability&u=1&pid=1375338721&oid=1375338721&uid=1
- ↑ Bermuda Sun, 15 December 2010.
- ↑ Royal Gazette, 2 May 2011.
- ↑ Bermuda Sun, 16 May 2011.
- ↑ Bermuda Sun, 11 September 2011.
- ↑ Bernews.com, 20 May 2014.
- ↑ "Election Map", Royal Gazette, 17 December 2012.
- ↑ Royal Gazette, 19 July 2017.