On Thursday the voters of Southampton West Central will choose a new MP. Here United Bermuda Party candidate Charlie Swan says why he is taking nothing for granted, despite being on home turf.

Having his former leader Wayne Furbert publicly criticise his selection as candidate can't have been how Charlie Swan hoped to kick off his campaign to defend Southampton West Central for the United Bermuda Party.

But, is his usual quiet way, Mr. Swan will not be drawn on Mr. Furbert's comments.

"I tend to focus on positive things, I don't in the least bit feel disheartened or downtrodden.

"I consider myself a very fortunate person for the life I lead and the accomplishments I have made."

But some might wonder, if he doesn't defend himself, then how will Mr. Swan defend the interests of others?

"Quite the contrary," said Mr. Swan, who has spent a year in the Senate before resigning to fight the seat.

"My ability to defend myself is a non-issue to me. I will happily stand in front of a train to save a life.

"When the chips are down Charlie Swan will fight tooth and nail and I will probably do it in a calm and measured thoughtful way – I want to make people think twice.

"Why is Mr. Furbert saying what he saying? I have no idea. Mr. Furbert has issues with something or someone other than Charlie Swan and I seem to have been caught in the middle.

"My focus is on the constituents of Southampton West Central."

Mr. Swan see politics as an extension of community service, which he says has been a hallmark of his life, but he is concerned about the way politics is now conducted in Bermuda.

"I am not deterred. There's a lot of negativity, I have experienced it myself in the Senate, there's a failure to fully focus on issues without negativity."

Some might question whether the softly-spoken Mr. Swan is suited for modern politics but he said everyone had their own style and the prevailing style of politics wasn't necessarily the best way.

In the Senate he has been vocal on the National Training Board and education, and says good governance is another area of interest.

Mr. Swan, who is managing director of Batson Swan Mobile Plumbing and Heating, is a big proponent of technical training beginning at the middle school level.

He said education needed to be fixed quickly and he regrets further steps had not been taken to consolidate progress after the shift to the middle-school system.

Instead there had been a revolving door of Education Ministers and a hierarchical structure which was alienating some of the stakeholders.

"There's been a true lack of collaboration or desire for collaboration."

But he is not advocating a return to the old system before the controversial middle schools were introduced.

"I prefer to build on what we have and make it work."

It seems to mirror his approach to the UBP. Mr. Swan was on the party's change committee but its report was damned by Mr. Furbert for offering little new.

Asked if he was happy with the current UBP model Mr. Swan said the party had governed for 30 years and had been out of power for ten.

"There is a longer history of a positive view of the UBP than there is a negative view.

"There seems to be a very good, effective marketing campaign to go back beyond the 30 years of the good UBP and compress that into a very few years of a very bad UBP.

"We obviously have to do a little more work in a attracting a grass-roots membership and develop a more bottom-up approach to how things are run within the party.

"We also need to do a better job of communicating our message which is still relevant to Bermuda. We need to come out of our comfort zones and I am speaking for the UBP and for Bermuda in general.

"Stereotypes that have been portrayed, whether they are about black people or white people, need to be thought through for what they were," said Mr. Swan.

"In Bermuda, no person is at heart that different from any other person but, at the end of the day, our lives are shaped by different experiences."

Mr. Swan describes himself as quiet, diligent and disciplined and said he had joined the UBP because it mirrors and represents the broadest cross section of Bermuda.

"It did before and it still holds to that."

He has been member of the party for years but voted for the PLP in 1998 in what he calls his "Obama moment for Bermuda".

Asked what he meant by that he said: "It was time for a change. I believe in the democratic process, I thought it was an opportunity for a new Government to really ... well, the Obama moment for Bermuda, call it that. Yeah."

The UBP needs to communicate better and convince the electorate it had a new team, said Mr. Swan.

Probed on why the UBP lost in 2007 he said: "We made mistakes. I don't think the three strikes and you are out and the citizenship for long-term residents (helped)."

Mr. Swan said the PLP had also benefited from a clever campaign to change people's perceptions. "We need to get clever and change people's perceptions as well."

He said parties the world over fell out of favour from time to time.

Despite a healthy 142-vote majority Mr. Swan is not taking anything for granted as he campaigns in the seat which is home – he lives off Church Road and his kids went to nearby Port Royal Primary School.

Mr. Swan himself attended Southampton Glebe School under Dalton E. Tucker after whom the school was then renamed then Warwick Academy.

He said it has been physically impossible to see all the voters before the poll next Thursday given the time available, compared to the five months he spent getting around the voters of Southampton West in the last election.

That seat was defended by Randy Horton whose Progressive Labour Party branch had tried to oust him in favour of Marc Bean, only for the party hierarchy to intervene.

Yet Mr. Horton increased his majority over the UBP a factor Mr. Swan put down to a higher turn-out.

Asked if he was concerned he had failed to make better inroads in the neighbouring constituency Mr. Swan points out that the seat he is fighting now is totally different.

Issues on the doorstep are the economy, crime and education – similar to the last election – and he also reels off a list of local concerns including paving, lights and a cross way in Granaway Heights and paving in Middle Road.

He won't be drawn on who is the biggest threat to victory – the PLP's Marc Bean or independent Raymond Davis.

"My biggest challenge is the constituents, I need to convince them I am the person they would like to see represent their interest in the House of Parliament – I have to win their hearts and minds."

But in a three-way fight anything can happen. Some believe if Mr. Swan loses Southampton West Central it will indicate the UBP is effectively dead and buried as a viable alternative to the PLP.

The by-election is crucial, admits Mr. Swan, but he doesn't believe if the UBP lost it would be a total disaster.

"Some people might think it would be the end of the UBP. I don't necessarily see it that way. Let's not forget we lost three General Elections, the PLP lost eight or nine?

"We have a Government which has 52 percent of the vote in the last election and about 60 percent of the seats – they have 22 and the UBP has 14. They don't need any more seats.

"We have to make sure we have a strong Opposition for balance and accountability.

"We have to keep this Government's feet to the coals."