Vance Campbell and the Reverend Emilygail Dill have been declared as Progressive Labour Party candidates for the July 18 General Election.

Mr Campbell will run in Smith’s West, the seat he lost against Trevor Moniz of the One Bermuda Alliance at the last election.

Ms Dill is to contest Paget West, the constituency held at present by Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, the Minister of Home Affairs.

David Burt, the Leader of the Opposition, yesterday commended Mr Campbell as a chartered public accountant of more than 25 years, with experience as a former general manager of the Bermuda Housing Corporation as well as being deputy chairman of the Bermuda Housing Trust.

Mr Campbell is the PLP treasurer and has served as chairman of the party’s finance committee.

“If elected, I will work tirelessly on your behalf,” Mr Campbell told the voters of Smith’s West.

“My office will be in your homes and in the streets of Constituency 9, as we meet together to discuss issues both local and national.”

Advocating the creation of a business advisory committee, Mr Campbell also affirmed his support for economic diversification, educational reform and the reintroduction of a Bermuda Technical Institute.

Mr Burt introduced Ms Dill as a “dynamic and powerful Bermudian” who has served the public education system as a teacher, educational therapist and counsellor.

She spent 15 years managing the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts at CedarBridge Academy.

As associate minister at Allen Temple Church, Ms Dill is president of Women in Ministry for the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s district one.

“I am a lifelong educator, minister of religion, with a plethora of experience here and overseas, that have honed my skills,” she said.

Some might describe Paget West as “a microcosm or replica of the two Bermudas we have heard so much about lately”, Ms Dill said, adding that “together we can bridge that huge divide”.

She said she supported access to a living wage, and “a global standard of education that equips each of our students to function in their chosen fields of endeavour”.

“I know the tasks ahead of us are not easy ones. But together we can move forward to build what Dr Martin Luther King referred to as the beloved community.”