Michael Dunkley will today be unveiled as the new leader of the United Bermuda Party.

A UBP source last night confirmed Mr. Dunkley had been elected unopposed after the nominations process came to a close at 5 p.m. yesterday.

Party Finance spokeswoman Patricia Gordon-Pamplin is also expected to be confirmed as Mr. Dunkley’s number two at a press conference likely to take place this afternoon.

It is understood there were no other nominees in the race to replace Wayne Furbert, who resigned last week after just 14 months in charge of the Opposition. Deputy leader Mr. Dunkley had been widely tipped to take the top post since Mr. Furbert’s departure. An announcement had been expected last night, but that is now set to take place this afternoon.

The source told The Royal Gazette: “The nomination process came to a close and there were no surprises. It was a foregone conclusion.

“There are still some procedural things to go through before an announcement can be made. There needs to be a formal declaration from the chairman. There will be a press conference during the day, probably in the afternoon.”

Mr. Dunkley’s appointment brings to an end a period of uncertainty over the UBP leadership dating back months.

Pressure mounted on Mr. Furbert from the start of this year following the high-profile departures of MP Jamahl Simmons and party chairwoman Gwyneth Rawlins amid race allegations.

His position became untenable after a majority of UBP MPs signed a motion of no confidence last month, with seven rebel MPs calling for him to stand down.

Mr. Furbert had struggled for popularity across the country, with just 20.2 percent of people saying they had a favourable opinion of him in January. His popularity rating nearly doubled to 37.9 percent in the latest poll last month, but it was too late to save his job.

Some UBP MPs have said they felt changing the leadership was unnecessary as the party was doomed at the next election.

However, this newspaper reported yesterday how Mr. Dunkley — an MP for ten years — plans to capitalise on what he sees as growing disillusionment with the Progressive Labour Party.

“I would never have pushed to make the change if we didn’t believe we had a chance to win the election,” said Mr. Dunkley.