Law and order, health care, education, housing and equal opportunity are always key issues in a Bermuda election. This one will be no different except for the fact that the electorate will be asked to judge the Progressive Labour Party's first term as Government.

After almost five years since the PLP's historic 1998 win, Bermudians have seen a different approach - in terms of style, not substance - to government that broke the mould set by successive United Bermuda Party (UBP) Governments.

Whether that is seen as a positive or not may well determine the outcome of the July 24 poll. “I think it's a question of what sort of Government people want,” agreed shadow legislative affairs Minister John Barritt.

“The form and style of Government is an issue.”

The Opposition party has let it be known that “integrity” and “good governance” will be key planks of their platform.

They will continue to argue that Government has been secretive, wasteful and tainted with the spectre of corruption and mismanagement.

The parties will agree on what the social issues are and will disagree only slightly on how to go about fixing them.

Issues like the crisis in affordable housing will loom large, with both parties promising an emergency plan as soon as the elections are over. The incumbent will have to stave off the criticism that the Bermuda Housing Corporation is mired in controversy and a corruption investigation, but will argue that the jury's still out because the Police service has not yet come to any conclusions.

And the PLP will also point out that it has made progress on many of these issues and ask the voters to look objectively at its record.

The UBP will continue to align itself with economic empowerment for all Bermudians but will argue that the PLP has gone about it in a suspect manner.

And the Government side will attempt to claim the moral high ground by arguing that it risked political capital to make some hard choices with immigration reform and resolved the years' long debate over the Island's long term residents.

While the Island's first political party will take sole credit for bringing the single seat electoral system to Bermuda and promise more constitutional reforms which will further empower Bermudians, the UBP will complain that the process of change - the way it was done - was tantamount to slapping the people in the face.

The Opposition will remind the voters that Government “did not listen” even after thousands of people signed a petition asking for a referendum and a constitutional conference on the changes, and present their own proposals for changing the constitution in the future.

And the Opposition party will ask the electorate whether they really want another five years of a Government that “doesn't care what you think”.

With a strong economy which survived the global trauma of the September 11 attacks on the United States and positive economic reports from ratings agencies, the PLP will declare the “boogeyman” forever dead and pull out statistics to show that they can manage the economy well.

But bigger government cars, larger than normal travel budgets and $35,000 parties for civil servants will be presented as evidence of a Government that spends lavishly without a thought for the future.

And expect more predictions of cost and scheduling overruns of the Berkeley construction project.

The Opposition will also attempt to exploit some dissatisfaction with Premier Jennifer Smith who is viewed by some as uncommunicative and distant.

Already the party has been referring to Government as the “Smith Government”. But a fair number of people also see her as a daughter of the soil and one of the hardest working Government leaders who has no time or inclination to engage in political theatre.

And the PLP will remind the voters that the UBP had three decades in which to address urgent issues of social justice and question whether the ‘new UBP' is to be trusted.

In the end, with little substantial differences between the parties, voters will be faced with a cultural choice.

No one will ever know but the results of Bermuda's first single seat election could well depend on the numbers of people who were filled with pride, or shame, at the thought of a local gombey troupe at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.