These are excerpts from Wayne Furbert's speech last week accepting the chairmanship of the United Bermuda Party.

To the Hon. Pamela Gordon leader of the party. To the former chairman Mr. Austin Woods, and the former officers of the party, delegates, president of the Young United Bermuda. To the new officers Mr. Rammy Smith deputy chair, Ms. Gwyeneth Rawlins secretary, and Mr. Philip Cracknell treasurer, I thank you for electing me chairman of the United Bermuda Party. I accept this position with humility but also with an understanding of the great task ahead. I accept too the responsibility that goes with it. And I seek your help and guidance.

I promise you that I will put my whole heart into this important job. And I pray that my devotion and hard work will bear fruit.

I do not have much in life, but I pray what you will find in me is honesty and integrity.

My tenure is for about six months, as sometime in December we will have another election of this position.

The most important goal during this period is to set this party on the right footing to be a genuine leader - not a party that was successful - very successful - in the past, but a new party that can be successful in a new age.

I will seek to develop a party that is a leader in finding newer and better ways of governing new models of government, new techniques and new policies, that sustain this country, that can make it grow and flourish.

I will seek to develop a party that can help our country move forward together, not as a people fractured into an assortment of competing communities, but as a people united in the belief that, by working together, by involving the views of the people of this country, we will make the best decisions for this country, and be able to move forward with greater unity than has ever been possible in the past.

With this over-riding goal in mind, there are important short-term tasks that I am ready to take on enthusiastically.

1. We must reorganise and revitalise our central office structure, with the greatest of urgency.

2. I intend to personally take part, regularly, with canvassing in key constituencies.

3. I will organise our party conference for November.

4. I will shortly be holding a public forum on "What it takes to build a United Bermuda".

The forum will consist of not only people who believe in a United Bermuda, but people of different views.

This reflects my conviction that it is our job and our duty, if we are to make of this United Bermuda Party something new and wonderful and energetic - that it is our job and our duty to reach out, open our eyes and our ears and arms and our hearts to new ideas, to better ways of going about making this country better for all of us.

My friends, our dreams and aspirations for the future are no different from those of most men, women and children living on this beautiful island. They want a strong economy. They want a good education and a sound affordable health care system.

Our seniors want to be able to enjoy a good life in their golden years. They want lower taxes. They don't want to see their tax dollars frittered away on wasteful or self-serving things, but are happy to contribute to projects that will genuinely make our country better and our people happier.

They want to feel protected as they walk along the streets. They want a protected environment. They want what we want.

I challenge you this evening to get ready to do battle to win the next election. But not with the traditional weapons of battle, or even the traditional weapons of politics in Bermuda.

While getting ready for the next election, I want you to put on the armour of honesty, the helmet of integrity, the shield of hope and the breast plate of loving others as you love yourself.

This is the best protection for our party and our beliefs, and the best way of winning any contest for the support of the people of this country.

I believe voters will give us a chance to a new and revitalised United Bermuda.

But we must be true to ourselves. If we are true to ourselves, the Bermudian pubic will be true to us.

I have been out of politics for the past two and half years. It has given me time to think about Bermuda, and talk with people who are deeply concerned about the direction Bermuda is headed.

I have come to the conclusion that voters are tired of political jargon, and how political leaders are taking them for granted.

The voters of Bermuda are tired of meaningless political manoeuvring.

They are tired of a political world where they wonder whether government actions are being taken for political advantage or for the genuine benefit of the country.

I believe that the change people want is to have their leaders to live by their words, stand for truth, and honesty and be individuals who would represent them.

We ourselves must change if we are to meet the needs and desires of the people of Bermuda.

No organisation stays around if it does not keep up with changing times.

Someone once said that insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results. The voters want change. We must be the party of change.

I know that the road will be long and challenging. I know that some people will walk away from it, and some will resist change, accepting a false security of past victories.

The past, my friends, is the past. We must remember it. We must learn from it.

But we must not live in it.

So when I talk about change, let me be clear. I am not talking about throwing away the principles upon which this party was founded.

They are:

1. To promote the social, moral, economic and political welfare of the people of Bermuda;

2. To develop and maintain unity and understanding among the people of Bermuda;

3. To ensure freedom under the law, and to ensure freedom of opportunity for all;

4. To protect and uphold the rights of every person under the Bermuda constitution; and

5. To strive for and maintain economic and political stability within the framework of a free market economy.

These fundamental principles are tried and tested. They are proven ways, not because they are old but because they are true. I am not talking about throwing them away.

We may be a conservative party by nature. But we are also a party with a social conscience.

Our challenge is to make these fundamental principles come alive in ways that meet the needs of modern Bermudians.

The country is calling out for true leadership.

This leadership is not coming from the PLP. The PLP has lost the faith of the electors, and has openly declared that they are not interested in 46 percent of the voters. It has talked and talked and talked, but it has failed and failed and failed to deliver.

We have lost the brisk pace of diversity. People are more frightened than ever to speak out. Some civil servants are in fear of losing their jobs.

We are being driven to a course of central planning, red tape, rules without responsibility, and regimentation without recourse.

Taxing by the PLP Government has reached an unacceptable level. They are hurting the middle class and those who cannot afford it.

Unwise spending by the PLP is being revealed almost on a daily basis.

My friends, I need not remind you that it was a United Bermuda that built a successful economy.

I need not remind you that it was this party that gave free education.

I need not remind you that our seniors do not have to pay land tax for their homes. They can ride the bus free. It was a United Bermuda that did it.

Now, I spoke about the need for truth and openness.

And so there is an important issue that we, as an organisation, must deal with. Openly. Truthfully.

In spite of the progress we have made in many areas, racial prejudice is still alive.

Our island community remains divided into many communities. It is a problem that has frustrated previous United Bermuda governments, and it is problem that now frustrates the current PLP Government.

The axe has not been laid at the root. We have dealt with surface issues and tried to deal with symptoms while doing little to really get to the heart of the matter.

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so his actions will be determined."

Both political parties have tried in their own way to tackle the problem, but both have played a role in keeping this alive.

The PLP pushes to get the majority of the black vote. This party, in the past, has pushed to get the majority of the white vote and a percentage of the black vote.

Ladies and gentleman, this is an organisation for free people. Not for blind followers and not for the conformists.

If a racist regime such as South Africa could move on, then it is time for us to tear down the walls that divide us. If we do not, then this country will tear itself apart.

My belief is that the white community should not vote for the UBP because of tradition and the black community should not be tricked to believe that the PLP speaks only for them. No-one should be profiled because of what they believe in.

We should be pushing the view that people should vote for good government not because of the colour of one's skin.

I know that the misunderstanding, the inequities, the pain of centuries will not be wiped away in a day.

We have to start somewhere. It is time for us as a community to stop looking at our differences but start looking at our similarities.

We must pledge that we will rise to a higher level, as a people and as a political party, in our development of love and concern for all of Bermuda.

We must continue to build a vision of a good and decent future. There must be room for everyone at the table. People of all communities, all colours, all stations in life, all working together to shape a future that is best for all of us, together.

Our party will be better off for it, and so will our country.

This country is calling out for leadership. Let's make ourselves their choice for a better Bermuda.

We soon will be fighting a by-election in Smith's South. Let's ensure that we begin our march to the next election with a victory.