constitutional change held at the opening of the talks on the Constitution on Monday.

Most Bermudians support a fairer franchise, Government Sen. Michael Scott told the opening session of talks on the Constitution.

Sen. Scott , speaking at Government House on Monday, said the impetus for the changes proposed by Government was Bermudians' needs for more fairness.

"Had we had a groundswell of opposition from the public you would have known by now about whether people had been consulted adequately,'' he said.

"We already know there is support for making the franchise fair and it stands to reason there could be no resistence to this. The people of Bermuda want these changes.'' Businessman Ward Young said: "The frustration in this room is the frustration of people on the Island who are not being heard. The meeting today was advertised in The Royal Gazette in a two by four advert. If it hadn't been for a bunch of us calling around, no one would be here.

"There is no groundswell because we haven't been given notice to come forward and give our story. Yes, there is a groundswell.'' Muriel Archer said with only a hundred people at the meeting and 37,000 voters, they were effectively representing 3,700 people each. She said the FCO should have conducted "the largest tour possible to get the whole picture''.

In response to a question from Bernard Woods , Governor Thorold Masefield said it was convention for Governors to be British until independence.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb asked what credence the British Government gave to election platform promises.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office Head of Overseas Territories John White said: "If a party has a manifesto, is elected and puts its commitments into practice, they are viewed by the electorate and external observers with a degree of seriousness. We acknowledge it was in the platform and we acknowledge it is not an exclusive source of change.

"We give credence to ideas from that source, but we also give credence to ideas that come from other sources.''