With the leadership of the Progressive Labour Party now settled, the first job of victor Dr. Ewart Brown is clear — to pull together a governing party traumatised by two leadership fights in little more than three years.

It is said that a house divided will not stand and nowhere is that more true than in politics where voters rarely support a party riven with discord, and the PLP now appears to be more divided than it has been in decades.

It is fair to say that the PLP today is not especially divided over policy; there was little to choose between Alex Scott and Ewart Brown on either their priorities, or indeed, their solutions to problems like housing, education and empowerment, although Dr. Brown has made it clear that there will be less focus on sustainable development.

Where there were differences was on style, both in terms of image and in terms of their approach to the Country’s business.

Here too there are ironies aplenty. Dr. Brown has never met a camera he does not like, especially if it comes without hard questions, while Mr. Scott, in his own words, let the press come to him, at least when he allowed it to do so. But the more accessible Dr. Brown is by general agreement a more dictatorial manager than Mr. Scott, who tended to drive policy after building a consensus.

Dr. Brown may have to adopt a little of Mr. Scott’s approach to get things done, assuming, as now seems likely, that his Cabinet will be drawn from both wings.

Appointment of a Cabinet will be the first priority, and this may still take a good deal of persuasion in a party that is clearly divided between the old guard and the more recent arrivals, of whom Dr. Brown is the leader.

This may be easier said than done. Egos have been bruised and now that it is obvious that the cracks exposed in 2003 were merely papered over, convincing its various leaders to pull together for the good of the party will be a challenge.

The next order of business for Dr. Brown will be to tackle the pressing social issues facing the Country. Having told delegates last night that child development needs to be put before sustainable development, it seems likely that the Brown Government will be focused on education, along with housing, health issues and poverty.

Dr. Brown will also be focusing on black empowerment and methods of reducing the wealth gap between blacks and whites.

What’s not yet clear is how he plans to do that, beyond an apprenticeship scheme in international business that formed part of his platform.

One of Dr. Brown’s other priorities will have to be ensuring that the business community continues to have confidence in the future of a stable and fiscally sound Bermuda.

At the same time, Dr. Brown will be keeping his eye on the election clock. Having already as much as promised to thrash the United Bermuda Party, he knows he must call an election by 2008. But it now seems more likely that it will come sooner than that.

He will need to get the PLP house in order before then and it will be interesting to see how he handles the PLP old guard. This may well have been the swansong for Dame Lois Browne Evans, whose grip and influence over the party she has dominated for close to 40 years has been shattered by Dr. Brown’s victory. Dame Jennifer Smith and Mr. Scott were clearly her political heirs and Dr. Brown’s victory shows that the baton has now been passed.