Cynics predicted Wayne Furbert’s leadership would all end in tears.

And so it proved.

Long acknowledged as one of the genuine nice guys of Bermuda politics, Wayne Furbert had the misfortune to lead his party just when things turned nasty.

In a reign which lasted barely more than a year Mr. Furbert will go down as an interim leader, taken down by his inability to deal with rumbling racial tension which exploded in two high-level resignations or to connect with the floating voter.

If he didn’t know the game was up when MP Jamahl Simmons and party chairman Gywneth Rawlins walked out he must surely have when his former running mate Maxwell Burgess held a press conference to publicly denounce the handling of the splits.

But buoyed by a sense of destiny based on a Biblical belief he soldiered on and his party, in a rare fit of manners, didn’t have the heart to say it was over. At least not publicly.

So the murmuring continued with his party lagging in the polls to the PLP’s new Premier Ewart Brown.

UBP supporters openly talked about the coming election being a write-off. Behind the scenes the word was he would be on his way after the seemingly inevitable drubbing at the hustings with leadership hopefuls wanting to start with a clean slate.

Perhaps the writing was on the wall from the beginning. With the UBP searching for a new leader when Grant Gibbons was eased out last January, Mr. Furbert took on Maxwell Burgess.

Initially backed by only six MPs out of a caucus of 14 he was more popular than his opponent who mustered just four — but the initial four abstainers who found both options unpalatable were indications of deep unease.

After numerous rounds of voting Mr. Burgess threw in the towel and the myth that Mr. Furbert had unanimous backing was put out to the public.

They weren’t impressed.

The first poll after Mr. Furbert replaced Dr. Gibbons showed only 28.7 percent rated him favourably while 38.4 percent were unfavourable. Those March 2006 figures showed support for the PLP had risen to 39.2 while the UBP were at 28.9 percent.

The elevation of Mr. Furbert to the UBP leadership had bolstered white support for the party but has not helped the Opposition pick up much more support among blacks — only 11.2 percent backed the UBP.

When Ewart Brown swept into power in late 2006 Mr. Furbert seemed out of his depth against the PLP’s biggest hitter.

And in January the bottom fell when Jamahl Simmons and Gywneth Rawlins left over the race issue.

Mr. Simmons, a former supporter of Mr. Furbert, said he felt betrayed as opponents in his local branch worked to oust him.

In a damage limitation exercise, the party hierarchy announced that Maxwell Burgess was also due to step down at the next election.

Stung by the leak Mr. Burgess rounded on his former ally and said it was time for him to go. MPs rallied to Mr Furbert — only for those who had publicly backed him to later sign a no confidence motion. Now they were calling for him to go but Mr. Burgess wasn’t among them.

Ironically polls out this week showed Mr. Furbert’s popularity had nearly doubled — although slightly more people — 42.1 percent said they had an unfavourable opinion.

His party was still behind in the polls but a huge number of undecideds meant the election was by no means in the bag for the Government who could only muster 30.1 percent support to the UBP’s 24.2.

Still, some in the caucus felt it was worth changing horses for the final stretch — indeed what was there to lose?

While most people found Mr. Furbert pleasant, his notorious problems with grammar were even more of a hindrance when up against the PLP’s most eloquent orator.

If he couldn’t manage the backroom stuff to keep his party from haemorrhaging and he couldn’t put over its ideas well — then really what was left for a politician aspiring to lead his country?

Some of his behaviour began to look increasingly bizarre. He answered a question from newspaper reporter by singing a song.

And asked four times on Monday, following a UBP caucus meeting, whether he was still leader Mr. Furbert was unable to answer the directly but instead talked about parking spaces at the House of Assembly.

The canvass returns and the opinion polls told their own story. Increasingly angry meetings with MPs and supporters finally forced his hand.

And yesterday an emotional Mr. Furbert finally bowed to the inevitable. It was classic Wayne — peppered with Biblical allusions and mispronounced words.

Some pauses to get his bearing as the enormity of what he was doing sunk in — and more than a few tears.

But ultimately he was decent and utterly loyal — country before party, party before self. He let us know he was hurting but he wouldn’t be lashing out.

The much-feared meltdown had been avoided with Mr. Furbert not pulling the plug on the party but giving it his backing and vowing to fight on in Hamilton West.

Any anger his friends and supporters might have felt about his ousting he urged them to turn outwards. He said: “If you wish to get even, then help me heal this country.”

And with that he left announcing he had some of his own healing to do. But he will be back. And for that his party can breathe an enormous sigh of relief.