Bermuda’s Premier David Burt on Monday gave up the tourism portfolio as he shuffled his cabinet, bringing back one former minister and appointing a new one, who was sworn in by Governor Rena Lalgie in a ceremony at Government House.
Michael Weeks, a former Social Development Minister who said he was asked to join the cabinet on Sunday night, will take over as national security minister following the departure of Renée Ming.
Vance Campbell, a building supply firm’s chief executive officer who was elected to the House of Assembly in 2020, will be the new tourism minister, a post the premier has held along with the finance portfolio he took on when Curtis Dickinson resigned in February after a bust-up with Burt over financial details of the reopening of the Fairmont Southampton, the island’s largest hotel.
Weeks rejected a claim that he was fired from the Cabinet in 2018 for his handling of an inquiry into allegations that children in his care were mistreated.
He was also thrust into the spotlight that year when two of his sons were jailed for four years and four months in England over a drug operation they ran targeting university students.
Burt insisted last week he had sacked Ming, but she maintained she had resigned, leaving only three women in the 11-strong cabinet.
In brief remarks before he elaborates on his new team on Tuesday, Burt said the public was unfazed by the headlines surrounding Ming’s resignation as reflected by a constituency clinic he held on Saturday.
He said he, the Cabinet, and the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) caucus are focused on their work and delivering on their election promises.
The PLP was first elected to power in 1998, ending 30 years of uninterrupted rule by the now-defunct United Bermuda Party, lost the 2012 election to the One Bermuda Alliance, but won again in 2017 before increasing its majority to 24 seats in the House in a snap election in 2020.
The following is the new cabinet announced on Monday.
Premier and Finance: David Burt
Home Affairs and Deputy Premier: Walter Roban
Attorney-General: Kathy Simmons
Cabinet Office: Wayne Furbert
Health: Kim Wilson
Labour and Economic Development: Jason Hayward
National Security: Michael Weeks
Public Works: David Burch
Social Development: Tinee Furbert
Tourism: Vance Campbell
Senate Leader and Youth, Culture and Sports: Ernest Peets
CMC/
