Kim Swan playing golf on the moon or Ewart Brown visiting Buckingham Palace for a game of billiards with the Queen seem more likely scenarios than the United Bermuda Party winning in Pembroke East Central.

But that's not going to stop Keith Young taking a shot at victory.

Local constituent Mr. Young was yesterday unveiled as the UBP's candidate to take on Michael Weeks of the Progressive Labour Party in the by-election for Constituency 16.

Fighting for the same seat in the 2007 General Election, Mr. Young, 51, was the only non-independent candidate to get less than 100 votes.

Underlining how much of a PLP stronghold the area is, his opponent Nelson Bascome was backed by 87 percent of voters despite not being able to canvass properly due to an ongoing court case in which he was ultimately cleared.

However, Mr. Young isn't just hoping to increase his share at the polls on August 27 — he believes there's enough public disillusionment with Government for him to pull off a shock result.

"I go into this battle to win. I never think anything's impossible," Mr. Young told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"The people of this constituency may be disenfranchised enough to want a change. The fact I got 13 percent of the vote last time speaks volumes. That means there were 13 percent of people who wanted to vote for the UBP."

Mr. Young, a manager at Capital G, says he has been a lifelong UBP supporter because the party represents diversity, but his political stance makes him a rarity in Pembroke East Central.

"I have always been with the UBP," he said. "To me, it's the right option, even though most of my family are PLP. During the last election, I got quite a few people who ostracised me for being a candidate for the UBP.

"I was told: 'How could you? You are a black man; you should be voting PLP.'

"I had kept my political opinion to myself. But then I got tired of talking about a solution and thought instead of being part of the problem I decided to be part of the solution."

Father-of-six Mr. Young was unveiled at a press conference at Victor Scott Primary School, near his own home on Friswells Hill. His family go back several generations in the area and his community work includes being a Youth Net middle school mentor and foster parenting, while he has been working to set up a riding and driving school for children.

He said issues he wants to tackle include available housing, gangs and emergency vehicle access on roads, while he would make a serious commitment to converting Marsh Folly waste site into a park.

UBP leader Kim Swan said in a statement: "These days, people are interested in candidates who, above all, are good citizens and good advocates.

"They want people who are mature, hard-working and honest — people who are knowledgeable and communicative. They want people who have qualities like loyalty, common sense and a sense of responsibility. In the real new Bermuda, people want their representative in Parliament to be a good man or woman, moreover they want someone who is going to put their issues first.

"I am proud to announce Keith Young as the United Bermuda Party candidate for Pembroke East Central. We chose him because we believe he is a good man, a man who we think will represent this constituency ably and well. Keith has the kind of qualities we admire. He is a man we want to be associated with, a man we want in our corner.

"Every constituency deserves a representative who is committed to their issues — Keith Young is a family man who lives in this community, he is not only home-grown, but has chosen to raise his family in this very community he hopes to serve.

"He has roots which go very deep in this area. His family has lived here for generations. He has lived with his wife, Roxanne and his children, in Middle Terrace on Friswells Hill for 17 years. His children go to a Government school in the area."