An unorthodox approach to electioneering has left Corin Smith?s political opponents wondering whether he has the support of the United Bermuda Party in his bid to enter Parliament as the representative for Sandys North.

Nowhere in the document ?Corin Smith?s Agenda for Sandys North?, or newspaper campaign ads is the UBP mentioned, although a letter to constituents does identify him as the Opposition party?s candidate for Sandys North.

And in an interview with the Bermuda Sun this week, Mr. Smith referred to the UBP as the ?last bastion of segregation in Bermuda? and said he could not depend on support from the party?s traditional voters.

?I am quite surprised that he ran ads that didn?t even associate him with the United Bermuda Party. And I?m wondering if he?s an independent, if he?s a United Bermuda Party member or exactly what he represents,? said Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent.

?Does Mr. Smith have his party?s support?? asked Eugenie Simmons, who has been canvassing with the ruling party?s candidate Michael Scott.

Mr. Smith says he is a test case for a new type of campaigning for the UBP, and that he was supported wholeheartedly by the Opposition party.

?There has been an overwhelming amount of support from the branch and the parliamentary group during this campaign. I?m embarrassed by the amount of support,? he said last night. ?There?s been a watershed in the UBP about, I guess, what I bring to the equation as a candidate. What surprised them was I defined myself as coming out of the grey area of political life. I?m a swing voter by definition whereas the other candidates have come out of one party or another so they?ve had to tailor the campaign to suit my style.?

He added that he had to ?fight with them to use UBP signage in my canvassing material.?

But he denied any suggestion that that meant the party did not really support him, saying instead that the UBP?s ?American style? campaign strategy had failed.

?No, I interpret that as they know they have to signal to the people that the are prepared to change. And I think their American advisors have invested a lot in associating the UBP brand with I guess American style campaigning... That?s created an obstacle with the community at large about who the UBP really is.? He added: ?I think the American strategy was to create a strategy that was a monolithic strategy that (the party) was the best one to run the Country and it got away from the more personal style of politics.?

The party had decided to ?give Corin a chance to define his own image and don?t encumber the message with the baggage of their failed campaigns.?

He said he had fought to keep the UBP logo in his material because he did not want to give the voters the impression that he was ?anything other than the UBP candidate.?

Mr. Smith is a former member of the Progressive Labour Party and helped to found the Gombey Liberation Party which ran his brother, Gavin, against the former Premier Jennifer Smith in last year?s General Election.