some severe lashes.

He is still not over the disappointment of the United Bermuda Party's General Election caning.

And while he lost his own St. George's South seat by a mere 76 votes, he still cannot hide his frustrations that the United Bermuda Party took bigger licks.

His disappointment is directed at those voters who pledged their support, then turned to the PLP.

"I felt let down, absolutely,'' he says. "I also felt misled because I don't think they wanted to tell me the truth.'' Now he is back in his office as a partner in the corporate and insurance section of Appleby, Spurling and Kempe.

He will be doubling his amount of time at work, having lost his seat in Parliament following five years as an MP.

And the "soul-searching'' he now has to do could even lead him to dropping politics by the time of the next Election.

"I simply don't know yet,'' says Mr. Spurling, to the question of whether he is prepared to stand again.

"I'm not sure. I would not say one way or another that I would or wouldn't.

"Five years is a long time and it may well be that I will be entrenched in other pursuits by then.'' As for the election lashes, Mr. Spurling has one word to decribe them. Race.

"It was a very emotional reaction to a fair amount of racial pressure,'' he says. "It was a kind of racial venting and the PLP campaign was run in a style on the doorstep, using race.

"When I was out with my running-mate Derrick Carlington, one woman said to us that she was going to vote her colour and that was it.

"She was not interested in the issues or anything. She wasn't a traditional supporter but that was an indication of the emotion -- the racial emotion that existed.'' He says there was "no animosity'' and his feeling was "very cordial'' towards St. George's South winners Arthur Pitcher and Rev. Wilbur Lowe.

He does not even blame his former UBP running-mate Grace Bell, who dramatically switched from UBP to PLP near the end of the last Parliament.

But his thoughts turn now to those constituents who counted on him for their help -- and to former Premier Pamela Gordon, whom he describes as "devastated'' following the election defeat.

"She has made the right choice to become Leader of the Opposition,'' he says.

"She was devastated, notwithstanding her huge popular support which was somewhere around 75 percent.

"They voted against her party and that says something too. It didn't matter what the issues were.

"It didn't matter how popular you were, how commited, how able, how experienced, how qualified you were.

"It was clearly an emotional and racial vote. It was that racial venting.'' Those constituents still counting on him can count on him, he says. Any unfinished projects will be wrapped up.

He is likely to quit the Tourism Board, however.

"I can't see David Allen jumping to keep me there,'' he says. "Besides, I'm against the policy of a sixth cruise ship.'' But life outside politics will not divorce him from the United Bermuda Party.

He is still an approved candidate. He still attends weekly Caucus meetings.

And his advice to the new Opposition is to be a strong Opposition.

"Bermuda is more important than politics,'' he says. "We need to cooperate and do everything possible constructively to assist the PLP in getting it right.

"Even though the emotions may be: `We will criticise and hope they fail because then it will prove that we were right', that would be wrong.

"We must do the opposite. We must criticise if they do something wrong, yes.

But we must at least be willing to assist.''