The British Labour Party and the Progressive Labour Party are travelling on similar paths, a top PLP official said this week.

PLP Secretary General Walter Roban, who attended Labour's annual conference earlier this month, predicted both parties will win their next general elections.

Mr. Roban -- one of the key organisers of the PLP's annual conference next month -- said one of the reasons he decided to attend the conference at Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England as an observer was because both parties had travelled "similar paths'' over the past ten years.

"Labour Party throughout the 1980s went through significant changes and so have we,'' he noted. "Our last election was close and theirs was in 1992.'' Since the last elections, the parallel was even more noticeable, Mr. Roban added.

"Realising this was the last conference before the election (in the UK), it was quite something to be there,'' he recalled.

Despite being televised and hosting thousands of delegates from all over the UK, Mr. Roban said the conference was more business-like than US political parties' conventions.

"They (delegates in the UK) have a direct impact on policy and affect what happens for the arriving year,'' he explained. "People who attend bring clear messages from membership. Shadow secretaries present papers that are debated and delegates are able to put issues on the floor and to speak to them or to change the direction of the party.'' He said many of the same issues plaguing Bermuda were at the top of the conference's agenda in the UK.

"Education was one of the major themes of the conference,'' he said. "They see that as a tool of bettering society.'' And Mr. Roban said there was also a sense of optimism about the conference and "where the party is going''.

"They are confident that they will win,'' he added. "They wanted to convey that the party is fully behind the leader Tony Blair who is in his second term.'' Describing Mr. Blair's speech as "a well delivered speech'', Mr. Roban said: "It was a massively delivered exercise that Labour is finally coming home to Government where it should be and that the party is unified and that they will definitely, by the next conference, be the government.'' Although the UK conference was strictly business, Mr. Roban said he had the opportunity to rub shoulders with big political wigs such as Patricia Hewitt, former secretary to former Labour Party Leader Neil Kinnock and now a Parliamentary candidate for Labour, Shadow Home Secretary Jack Straw, and general secretary Tom Sawyer.

He also had the chance to speak with representatives of dependent territories, namely Cayman Islands and the Falklands, and Labour officials about strengthening ties between the British Labour Party and the PLP.

Mr. Roban also pointed out that he was amazed with what the British Labour Party managed to accomplish within a week at the conference.

"It has assisted me in some issues concerning organising and planning the PLP's conference,'' he said. "There are ideas that will be easily transferable, providing us with good insights.'' The PLP, which holds its annual conference November 4 through 8, will focus on on crime, education, and drugs Mr. Roban said.

"These are issues that the community is concerned with,'' he added. "I certainly think there are things which may be issues of policy which we may be able to communicate (to the public). And you might see some new things added to our conference. But that has not yet been confirmed.

"However, we will aim to show the public that we are a no-nonsense organisation and that we conduct our business in an organised manner. And that we are also ready to govern Bermuda.'' POLITICAL UNITY -- PLP Secretary General Walter Roban shakes hands with Labour Party candidate Patricia Hewitt.