A series of videos designed to explain Bermuda’s political system have been created to mark the 400th anniversary of Parliament.

The animated video series is intended to educate the public – particularly young Bermudians – about Bermuda’s political process.

Dennis Lister, the Speaker of the House, said the 400th anniversary of Bermuda’s general assembly committee had at first intended the project to focus on this year’s anniversary but it evolved into an educational series.

Mr Lister added: “They thought that this was a message that could go out to the young people to keep them engaged and give them a better understanding of how politics works in the country.

“This is the first, but we have engaged them to do a second series down the Road – a season two.”

Mr Lister said that the Covid-19 pandemic had changed some plans, but the video campaign was seen as something that had to be completed.

He added: “There are many things that were initially planned and cancelled, but there was one key component that we decided we could not cancel – it had a life of its own that we had to make sure to continue.”

Maya Palacio of MediaMaya, who was involved in the project, said the series would tackle a wide variety of topics over the next few weeks.

She added: “Some of the episodes that some people might be interested in are about how a Bill becomes a law, what does the Premier do and what does the Senate do.

“It uses animation and it’s a lot easier to grasp and understand.”

Ms Palacio said she learnt about the Canadian political system while in school overseas, but did not know much about Bermudian politics.

She added: “Having this here is just so beneficial for those who really want to know what’s going on in their island and what things mean when they are being reported by the news.”

McKenzie-Kohl Tuckett, who represented the Bermuda Youth Parliament on the anniversary committee, said the committee knew from the start that the focus needed to be on making the sometimes complex political system understandable to young people.

“We knew we wanted it youth focused. We knew that we wanted these episodes to educate young Bermudians about how politics works.”

The team behind the project also included photographer Jayde Gibbons and Tiara Webb, who was project manager.

Ms Webb said the series will be released gradually in stages on the Parliament and Government social media platforms from this week and continue after the return of Parliament next month.

Lawrence Scott, the Minister of Transport, said: “I wanted to find a way to provide education about politics in Bermuda.

“A better educated electorate encourages better governance and I could not think of a better team then the group of young women to bring this to fruition.