The defending pair romped home streets ahead of the opposition, with Dr.

Gibbons topping the poll with 855 votes.

Mrs. Young came in just behind with 840 votes, while Mr. Scott picked up 127 votes.

Dr. Gibbons said minutes after the vote was announced: "We'd both like to thank the people of Paget East for coming out and supporting us.

"It was a very significant win and we're very pleased with the result. We're looking forward to looking after the interests of the people of Paget East.'' Mrs. Young said: "It was a nice, even result... they're happy with us.'' Mr. Scott, who earlier said his aim was to up the vote, took his party to seven percent of the vote, up 2.9 percent.

"I think the swing in Paget East will be indicative of the swing across the Island,'' he said.

Mr. Scott predicted earlier: "A swing of two to three percent in Paget East, if reflected in the polls elsewhere, will be very significant.'' But PLP voters in Paget East appear to be very thin on the ground. All those interviewed said they had voted the Gibbons and Young ticket.

One middle-aged man insisted: "The UBP have the better programmes and they've been constant over the years.

"The PLP aren't constant in what they want to do and the taxation thing bothers me.'' One woman, who declined to be identified, admitted she had gone with the UBP -- even though she said the party "hadn't been doing a great job.'' But she added: "The PLP didn't give me enough confidence to be able to rely on them that they would be able to do even an equally bad job, rather than a worse one.'' The woman added that she felt the high number of homeowners in Bermuda, anxious to protect their investment, would swing it for the UBP, despite the party's difficulties in its last term.

In the 1993 poll, then-candidates Sir John Swan and Dr. John Stubbs netted a massive 89.9 percent of the 1853 votes cast by the 968 voters -- an 89.1 percent turnout.

The National Liberal Party's Geoffrey Parker came third with 112 votes (six percent) and Aurelia Burch of the Progressive Labour Party got just 75 votes, or 4.1 percent of the total poll.

Both the incumbents picked up their seats in by-elections, Dr. Gibbons in 1994 and Mrs. Young last year, where the PLP picked up votes numbered in the 30s.

RESULTS Grant Gibbons (UBP) 855 Kim Young (UBP) 840 Milton Scott (PLP) 127 Rejected ballots 3