Curtis Dickinson said Bermuda wanted honest, principled leadership as he made the case to take the reins of the Progressive Labour Party.

Speaking in front of a packed Ruth Seaton James Auditorium, the former Minister of Finance said he believed the island was looking for integrity-based leadership.

Mr Dickinson said: “Positions, titles, accomplishments, they matter as well, but how you behave in the face of adversity, how you behave when you are challenged is important; how you stand by your principles in the face of opposition to what you believe to be the right answer.

“Those things are important because people want leaders they can trust, they want leaders who can tell them the truth.

“A lot of us have come through hard times, have come from humble beginnings.

“We know what hard times look like. When we are told what we are dealing with, what the issue is, we may not like that we have to deal with it, but we are extraordinarily resilient people, and what we need from our leaders is for them to tell us the truth.”

Mr Dickinson said that as leader, his priorities would be bolstering housing and education, addressing the cost of healthcare, building safer communities and improving the island’s infrastructure.

He told the crowd what while efforts had begun to create more affordable housing, Bermuda could see faster and better results if there was greater collaboration.

Mr Dickinson noted his work with the charity Home, which aims to prevent and end homelessness.

“The way that we work as an organisation is we try to actively pull people together and put the person, the client, at the centre of what it is we are doing,” he said.

“My sense is we can deploy similar strategies of bringing people together to work on solving this issue.

“Governments can play an important role in solving a lot of issues, but they aren’t the only ones that can help, and if we can expand the net of people who are trying to help, we can get better answers quicker.”

Asked about the possibility of exempt companies investing in derelict homes to house non-Bermudians, Mr Dickinson said that the Government must be careful to make sure it does not inadvertently disenfranchise Bermudians.

He said: “The idea that we can get capital from exempt companies, I can find a way to be supportive of that, but we have to make sure that Bermudians are the beneficiaries because what we don’t want to do is solve one problem and create a myriad of others.”

Mr Dickinson said that addressing the cost of healthcare was a complicated task, noting the island’s ageing population, but there was a need to make sure that healthcare was affordable for everyone.

He said: “If that means the Government needs to provide some subsidisation, then we have to look at that.”

Mr Dickinson said that many people who attended the hospital probably did not need to and the Government was required to consider how healthcare could be delivered differently.

He said: “Are there other ways that we can get people seen by healthcare professionals without the exorbitant costs that one incurs when one goes to the hospital?”

Mr Dickinson also did not rule out the possibility of serving as both the Premier and Minister of Finance, but said that both were “big jobs” and so such an arrangement would not be long-term.

He added: “We would need to assess the broader team, figure out where our strengths lie and make choices accordingly.

“Having said that, I have thought about this and I have thought about potentially doing both jobs initially, but I wouldn’t want to do both jobs indefinitely.”

Mr Dickinson became an MP after winning the by-election in Warwick North East against One Bermuda Alliance candidate Justin Mathias with 375 votes to 300.

In the aftermath, he was quickly named Minister of Finance.

Mr Dickinson secured the seat for Pembroke South East in the 2020 General Election.

Reflecting on his decision to enter frontline politics in 2018 after years of working on government boards, he said his wife said that she would only support it under one condition — that he not compromise his principles.

He said he was proud of his work as the finance minister, setting the course for a balanced budget, making sure those who lost jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic received financial assistance and helping those made redundant when the Fairmont Southampton shut its doors.

Mr Dickinson also spoke on his departure from the post, stating that he was duty-bound to step down when he could not “speak with one voice” with his Cabinet colleagues.

He said: “Based on my professional experience and advice I was given, I was not prepared to enter into a deal that would not be in the interest of the people of Bermuda.”

While Mr Dickinson said he could have easily stepped down from his seat in Parliament, he chose to stick around because he believed he had value to add to the country.

In September 2022, Mr Dickinson ran against David Burt, the Premier, to lead the PLP, but was defeated by a delegates vote of 97 to 56.

When Mr Dickinson announced his candidacy in April to succeed Mr Burt, who will step down as leader of the PLP this year, he said he lost the 2022 leadership race because he had only a short window of time in which to act.

This time, he is running against Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, who announced his candidacy at the PLP Founder’s Day celebration in February.

Mr Hayward has said he would work to develop a social development strategy to help make sure that no one “falls through the cracks”.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette, he also discussed working to secure a strong public education system, bolstering the island’s workforce and making sure that housing was accessible and affordable.