You have to give it to the United Bermuda Party: Its introduction yesterday of former Premier Sir John Swan as its future economic development czar added some political spice to what has been a low key general election campaign.

Apart from that, it does several things for the UBP. Sir John led the party and the Country for 13 years, most of them with a high degree of success, until his departure in 1995 in the wake of the Independence referendum. As a result of that failure, and the ensuing McDonald's row, Sir John was very much on the outside of the by then very disunited UBP.

So yesterday's move brings a key figure in the party's history - and a nemesis for the Progressive Labour Party - back into the mainstream of the party. Coupled with the return of conservative maverick Trevor Moniz, it suggests that the UBP is more united than it has been for a long time.

Sir John's return also gives more credence to the idea that the UBP is more diverse. While the UBP slate of candidates is "new and different", not all the candidates have strong name recognition or proven track records. Sir John has both in spades, both politically and as the Island's most successful black businessman.

And since his departure from politics, Sir John has also shown an ability to get things done. He has put up new office buildings and has nearly completed the Atlantis development, the first tangible effort to turn Hamilton into a living city.

It is no coincidence that that is exactly what the UBP envisions in its economic development and opportunity plans. Much of the UBP's "new" thinking parallels the ideas that Sir John has been promoting in the last four years or so. And he is eminently qualified for this particular post because he has wide experience in building and finance and a track record of providing opportunity to others. In addition, his wide range of local and overseas contacts and friends can only help. There are risks for the UBP as well.

The primary one is this: What's the leader of the "old" UBP doing in the "new UBP"?

The second one that Sir John will be seen as re-entering politics through a back door. Does that mean that he would be pulling the strings of the "new UBP" or overshadowing current UBP leader Grant Gibbons?

After all, Sir John helped to divide the party he is now rejoining and could do the same again. He may well be admired and respected, but many people have long and bitter memories of the divisions that the Independence debate and McDonald's aroused.

And in spite of his avowals that he does not want an active political role he remains a political animal, adding yesterday when asked if the new post was a political appointment: "... to deny the fact that there is no politics involved is to deny the fact that we breathe air. Politics is politics is politics."

So it is, and there are good reasons for the UBP to put a supporter in charge of what is a central part of its plans for the Island.

But Sir John seems to genuinely believe both that this is a different party than the one he led. And if he was to accept an important role in a new UBP government, he genuinely does not seem to want the starring role.

"I've seen the party go through change. I've watched Dr. Gibbons as he attempted to be far more embracing of the party," Sir John said.

And that's the real test for the UBP in this election. It needs to convince the public and people who supported it until 1998 that it is new and that they can embrace it because it offers opportunities to all.