Simone Barton has been acclaimed as chairwoman of the One Bermuda Alliance.

Mrs Barton, who ran for the OBA in Hamilton West for the 2017 General Election, was confirmed as chairwoman after Nandi Outerbridge withdrew from the election.

She said the party was being “revitalised” under the leadership of Craig Cannonier, and that it would not only hold the Government to account but be “ready to govern Bermuda in the way it so desperately needs”.

She cited a decline in employment, GDP and retail sales, and said that business confidence was “at its lowest”, and that the island had to be averted from “its rapid decline into another economic abyss”.

She echoed remarks made by Mr Cannonier in the wake of poor Bermuda Business Confidence Survey results, and said that the economic foundation left by the OBA was “swiftly being eroded”.

Mrs Barton, an advocate for cardiac health, is the chief executive of the Bermuda Heart Foundation and founder of Core Heart Health Centre.

Mr Cannonier called her “someone who does things and does them well”.

The Opposition leader added: “She is exactly the kind of person the OBA needs and I am delighted to welcome her as our new party chairwoman.”

He thanked Ms Outerbridge and said he hoped she would “continue to be involved”.

PLP chairman Owen Darrell said: “The new chair of the OBA has begun her tenure with the same old pattern of misinformation that was the hallmark of the ‘old’ OBA. The facts totally disprove the tired and desperate deceit promoted by the OBA.”