Michael Dunkley will today be confirmed unopposed as United Bermuda Party leader with Patricia Gordon-Pamplin as his number two. Will the Opposition have finally found the magic formula or will it be heading to its third successive defeat? The Royal Gazette spoke to critics and supporters about the latest UBP pairing.

An iron leader who is too one-dimensional to appeal to floating voters — that was the verdict of former UBP MP Jamahl Simmons on Michael Dunkley.

But the new man received strong support from UBP veteran CV (Jim) Woolridge who urged the party to unite behind him.

Either way Mr. Dunkley has an uphill struggle given that the PLP is still leading in the polls with an election which could be just weeks away.

The election could be won or lost on which party can lure the black, female middle class.

Jamahl Simmons doesn't believe the UBP had got it right by selecting Mr. Dunkley.

"I think he will be a stronger leader and more aggressive at pointing out where the Government is coming short," he said.

But he questioned whether Mr. Dunkley would be able to lay out a vision of where he wanted to take the country and appeal to floating voters.

"When you get past 'We will do what the PLP isn't doing' then I don't think there's very much beyond that.

"I don't think the attack dog approach is very appealing. It plays very well with the supporters but not very well with the wider community."

Mr. Simmons said putting out a negative message on what the PLP was doing and campaigning on issues like Southlands and the Medical Clinic, which had a limited appeal, risked making the UBP irrelevant.

The Dunkley/Gordon-Pamplin pairing was a dream team for aggressive UBP supporters who wanted more attacks on the PLP.

"But that is not going to get it done. You can come up with ten bad things about the PLP and people will give you ten more but you have to say what you are going to do otherwise you become irrelevant."

Mr Simmons said he knew he would be attacked for sour grapes for voicing his criticism but he said it was important the Opposition had an agenda which could push the Government.

He said as a shadow Minister Mr. Dunkley had never come out with a plan — other than to have more cops on the street and the issue was not the party's leadership but its whole structure.

"The new leadership, just like the old leadership has preferred to attack the messenger, whether it is Gwyneth Rawlins, Maxwell Burgess or myself rather than addressing the substance behind their criticisms."

This week former party chairwoman Gwyneth Rawlins again lashed the party she resigned from.

Mr. Simmons said: "Every word of every sentence, of every paragraph that Gwyneth has stated regarding conditions within the UBP is true, yet we have seen no moves to address them, just personal attacks on her. I support her comments 100 percent."

And Mr. Simmons said the UBP's new head man had some hard questions to answer over the recent splits.

"Many of us perceived Dunkley as Wayne's 'chief advisor' yet he has managed to avoid being tainted with his involvement in the decisions made over the last 14 months.

"Either he was in agreement with and helped decide what was going on or he was a docile lap dog following blindly despite knowing that the decisions were wrong."

However former Tourism Minister and UBP veteran CV (Jim) Woolridge gave Mr. Dunkley his wholehearted support.

He said: "I think he will do very well, he's very dedicated and works very hard. He's a responsible person as he's shown by running one of Bermuda's biggest businesses.

"I know few politicians on either side of the house as dedicated to their constituency.

"If you call his house on an evening he's never home, he's always out knocking on doors. He doesn't do it just when there is an election. He does it all the time."

He said it was stupid to brand Mr. Dunkley as a right winger and predicted he would be able to unite the country and get it back on track.

But he said it was important for the party to get behind him.

"It isn't important who makes the runs as long as you win the ball game."

"He is only one man, he can be as successful as the people around him."

Party Chairman Shawn Crockwell said the election of Mr. Dunkley put the party in much better stead than under the predecessor.

"The issue isn't the leader, the issue is the support the leader can achieve. For whatever reason Wayne Furbert lost that support.

"Clearly you can't win an election without having full support of the parliamentary group and the party proper.

"We have a better chance of winning the election now. Prior to that it was very difficult to gain momentum and traction when there was an internal split."

He said Mr. Dunkley, as a white leader, could come under attack.

"If we are still stuck in mire of what colour the leader is then we as a country are significantly behind.

"I am hoping right-minded people will look beyond the very obvious issues of colour."

And he said Mr. Dunkley had a record of picking up support from middle class blacks as could be seen by his victory in Devonshire East where blacks are around 60 percent of the population.

Mr. Crockwell believes people were now less concerned with colour and more concerned about voting in someone who could get the job done.

And he pointed out the party was now picking up majority support from the poorest according to the opinion polls.

The key undecided voters are primarily black and female said Mr. Crockwell.

Asked if Mr. Dunkley would be able to appeal to that group he said: "I don't know what the overwhelming perception of Michael Dunkley is.

"I know what my perception is. I believe insecure people are intimidated by secure, confident people, whether or not it's Michael Dunkley.

"He's a secure, competent successful individual who has high standards he expects people to achieve. I don't find him intimidating or ambitious. He wants to get the job done."

The election will be about issues not personalities said Mr. Crockwell.

"I think if the PLP was competent and had governed satisfactorily it would be very difficult but the reality is they have failed and failed miserably in crime housing and education — three areas in our society which are in a state of crisis."

He said the PLP was scaring people by becoming more xenophobic and anti-white.

It seems certain the UBP will try to broaden its racial appeal by having deputy leader Patricia Gordon-Pamplin figure prominently.

But Mr. Crockwell said this was natural given her personality and talent. "She's not one to stay in the shadows."

Mr. Simmons said although Mr. Dunkley claimed to understand the race issue he didn't really understand the nuances and would likely throw out superficial platitudes rather than address it.

"People are saying blacks don't want a white leader. There may be some truth to that.

"More importantly they want to know there is an understanding, there will be things put forward for a solution. I don't think we are going to see that."

The stakes are certainly high for the UBP.

Mr. Simmons said if Mr. Dunkley failed to deliver victory he would be expected to resign but the party was increasingly running short of potential replacements.

Wayne Furbert and Grant Gibbons had already done it while the party is losing Maxwell Burgess and Neville Darrell at the next election. "The pool gets more shallow."