Gordon-Pamplin leads party despite UBP past
Patricia Gordon-Pamplin’s political experience, tempered by calm, is credited with securing her the support of the 12 remaining One Bermuda Alliance MPs as acting leader, while the new Opposition assesses its future.
Ms Gordon-Pamplin was selected as interim leader in a secret ballot on Friday, with Sylvan Richards as interim deputy.
While a source close to the party said some MPs had hoped for leadership untainted by past links to the United Bermuda Party, Ms Gordon-Pamplin still emerged top against contenders Jeanne Atherden, Jeff Baron, Susan Jackson and Leah Scott. Ms Gordon-Pamplin told The Royal Gazette she had been “probably the most experienced of the MPs who would have put their names forward”, and capable of balancing the role with her full-time job.
Mr Baron had been suggested as a youthful candidate well suited to mending divisions and working with the governing Progressive Labour Party, but Ms Gordon-Pamplin pointed out: “This is Jeff’s first opportunity in Parliament, which is a different animal from being in the Senate. During the course of the parliamentary process, every member will have the opportunity to get a depth of experience and exposure that they will be able to bring to the position.”
Calling Mr Baron “wonderful” and “a great individual”, she said the real question lay in who was elected by the full membership at the party conference in October.
“Certainly if the party conference determines that he is the person for carrying the party forward, there will be that opportunity,” she said. “Sometimes you have to pause for a minute and make sure your ducks are in a row.”
She said that race did not feature in the selection announced, adding: “That aspect of the process does not faze me.”
A Shadow Cabinet remains to be announced.
“It was important for us to be ready for Parliament — we don’t know when the Premier expects it to resume. What is important is that when issues arise that are not necessarily restricted to the time that Parliament is sitting, that we have a team ready. That’s the reason it was very important to have these positions in place, and filled quickly.”
The next Opposition leader need not come from the House, she added, pointing out that when the UBP merged with the Bermuda Democratic Alliance to form the OBA, “the person at the forefront for leadership was not an MP”.
“John Barritt stepped down to allow Craig Cannonier to be elected. Whether such a situation exists under the circumstances remains to be seen. Whether the person likely to be enamoured by the leadership is one who already has a parliamentary seat, we don’t know. The party conference will make that decision. I’m not saying it won’t be me, but the membership will make that determination.”
Saying she knew “most of the players on the Government side, certainly in Cabinet”, she added: “It’s also important to have someone knowledgable of the disastrous state that we inherited in 2012.”
The party source said the OBA’s remaining MPs had been quietly accepting of the landslide defeat delivered at the polls on July 18, and that Ms Gordon-Pamplin brought an air of neutrality to the leadership meeting, adding: “It was civilised and fair. Nobody was upset.”
Of the General Election, the source said: “There are OBA supporters who aren’t happy but who recognise that the leadership wasn’t listening. This gives us an opportunity to regroup and look at who we want to be going forward.”
Voters, the source said, had “exercised their constitutional rights to make a change”, and the mood during the meeting in the party headquarters had been “reflective, even optimistic — no doom and gloom; this is the hand that was dealt”.
The message on the doorstep to the OBA had been one of “we don’t understand what you’re doing or why you’re doing it”, the source said, faulting the party’s communication.
Mr Baron represented “the change that we thought the OBA was going to bring”, but would have faced a challenge of “whether people are going to be accepting of another white leader” after the resignation of Michael Dunkley.
The internal election had picked Ms Gordon-Pamplin as “a voice of reason with a calm demeanour who can take the party through this transitional period”.
“The important thing is being able to demonstrate that you heard what the people had to say. We’re working now to be a strong and effective Opposition.”
Former minister Quinton Edness applauded Ms Gordon-Pamplin as “the best choice they have at present”. “She will be able to pull the party together. More than that, she will work very hard to put together a political force to make a difference.”
Added Mr Edness: “The time had come for the Government to change. The OBA was not in touch with all of Bermuda ... It’s a question of what they are going to do now.”