Bermuda Premier David Burt has been re-elected as leader of the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) after fighting off a spirited challenge from former Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson following a bruising campaign battle.
Deputy Premier Walter Roban, the home affairs minister, also retained his number two party post after defeating former National Security Minister Cabinet Minister Renée Ming.
On Thursday night, PLP delegates and the party’s 30 MPs voted 97 to 56 in favor of Burt and 97 to 54 in favor of Roban.
Burt became Bermuda’s youngest-ever premier at the age of 38 after leading the PLP to victory in the 2017 general election, ending the One Bermuda Alliance administration’s one term in office, and triumphed again in 2020 when the PLP won a snap election by an even bigger margin.
He has said he plans to step down as leader in 2026.
Burt, who took over the finance portfolio following Dickinson’s bombshell resignation in February just days before he was due to deliver the annual budget, has been praised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but his critics have accused him of arrogance.
Burt’s triumph on Thursday came after Dickinson, a former banker whose arrival on the political scene followed his victory in a 2018 by-election, called him a liar in an extraordinary attack before delegates cast their votes.
In a social media post earlier in the day, Dickinson tore into Burt’s track record and predicted the PLP would lose the next election, due in 2025, if he is still leader. Marc Bean, a former PLP leader, earlier made the same claim.
The campaign — in which the candidates met in only one head-to-head debate after Dickinson pulled out of the first one at the last minute claiming he had not been given the assurances he sought about the format, and amid concerns over access to the list of delegates eligible to vote — was marked by claims from both sides about dirty tricks and attempted smears.
Dickinson, who complained the PLP leadership had gone against tradition and denied him the chance to address delegates during Wednesday’s opening night, said Bermuda was “on the brink” economically, and Burt was not telling voters the truth about the actual scale of the problems. The island is currently US$3.35 billion in debt.
David Burt, who received the backing of the president of the island’s largest trade union on the eve of voting, used his keynote address to the PLP conference on Wednesday to claim his wife, Kristin, had to endure “vicious and false stories” that had been targeted at attacking him as premier.
Burt said that recent weeks had not been easy for himself, his wife, or their family.
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