Mr. Charles Jeffers says he will stand for the leadership of the National Liberal Party early next year.

And Mr. Jeffers told The Royal Gazette yesterday it is likely he will stand unopposed when the party meets in January or February.

"There aren't very many people looking for punishment,'' Mr. Jeffers said with a laugh.

Mr. Gilbert Darrell, 72, is expected to step down as the longtime leader of Bermuda's third party at the NLP's next annual general meeting. The NLP lost its only seat in the House of Assembly when Mr. Darrell was defeated in Hamilton East in 1993.

Photographer Mr. Graeme Outerbridge, who was seen as another possible successor to Mr. Darrell, is off the Island for about a year on a work assignment, Mr. Darrell and Mr. Jeffers said yesterday.

Mr. Jeffers, the NLP deputy chairman, is acting public relations officer in Mr. Outerbridge's absence.

"I have committed now that I will stand for the leadership of the party,'' Mr. Jeffers said yesterday. "It seems to be the general consensus that I do.'' On Monday night, the NLP held its first in a series of informal meetings aimed at boosting "membership, finances, and overall activity in the party.'' About 30 members and guests attended the meeting at Peace Lutheran Church Hall. Speakers included Mr. Darrell, Mr. Jeffers, former MP Mr. Austin Thomas, and candidate Mr. Matthew Lindo.

Mr. Jeffers, who admitted a recent NLP membership drive was not successful, said he was encouraged by the number of young people who attended the meeting.

He estimated the NLP had 200 to 300 members, but said it also needed at least 15 to 20 candidates in the next general election.

"We don't want to be regarded as a pressure group,'' he said. "We want to be regarded as a bona fide political party.'' "There are still people who feel that to buck the UBP (United Bermuda Party) is to buck the power structure,'' Mr. Jeffers said. "They feel it can have repercussions financially and otherwise.

"I feel that's not a well-founded fear,'' he said. "Nevertheless, it's one that exists.'' Mr. Jeffers was serving as NLP chairman in 1987, when he moved to Toronto to take a job with the Canadian marketing arm of the Heritage International Scholarship Trust Plan, which he introduced to Bermuda in 1969.

He was a PLP candidate in Pembroke West Central in 1983 and an NLP candidate in Pembroke East Central in 1985.

Mr. Jeffers returned to Bermuda this summer and is now associate enrolment director with the Heritage International Scholarship Trust Plan.

Mr. Charles Jeffers