The Opposition United Bermuda Party has adopted a new Constitution which, says new chairman Wayne Furbert, will give more autonomy to the branches.

And the party is boasting a new executive team that they say will help to breathe new life into the UBP and politics in Bermuda.

The moves come after two and a half years of soul searching for the UBP which was swept out of power in the November, 1998, General Election and has been mulling its options for restructuring since.

Now, says Mr. Furbert, the party will be aiming to provide "true leadership" for Bermuda by meeting a clamour for change and reaching out for grassroots support.

Mr. Furbert who accepted the chairmanship of the party to replace Austin Woods, said the new constitution, which came into effect June 1, now provides for regional heads.

"The branches will report to the regionals," he said. "What we're trying to do is put more power back to the branches. We'll work from the grassroots up instead of working down."

The first regional chairmen were handpicked, he told The Royal Gazette. But he wouldn't reveal other aspects of the new constitution saying announcements will be made in the near future.

The news comes as the UBP elects a new slate of officers to help in remaking the party.

Besides Mr. Furbert's election, the party also announced the election of Ramadhin Smith as deputy chairman, Gwyneth Rawlins as secretary and Phil Cracknell as treasurer.

"This is exciting because we are working with a clean slate," Mr. Furbert said. He said the team was a "grassroots team" of people who were on the party executive for the first time. And, he said, it represented a move away from the "old guard".

"You are going to see changes - changes that will not only benefit the United Bermuda Party, but Bermuda as a whole," he said.

Mr. Furbert has been an MP and a Cabinet Minister but he pointed out that being chairman was his first opportunity to "turn my attention to how the party itself works and functions".

Mr. Smith ran unsuccessfully for the UBP in Pembroke East in the 1993 election but has not been involved in party politics since. The 43-year-old father of three owns two companies - Bermuda Coatings Co. Ltd., and Atlantic Search Ltd., a recruitment firm specialising in accountants for the reinsurance industry.

"I want to do in this field what I have done in business," he said, "which is to win people over by offering something different and better, not by badmouthing the competition. I want to change the concept of politics and UBP politics."

He said he does not consider himself a politician.

"I am taking this job because I want to move everybody forward. I want to work toward a Government that is more open, more approachable and provides better leadership. I want a community that people can be proud of and in which they are not afraid to speak out. To me that's community service, not politics," said Mr. Smith.

"This is the new school versus the old school in terms of mindsets and in terms of how things have been done before now," said Ms Rawlins, a customer relations specialist at Argus.

The UBP's new treasurer, Phil Cracknell, is the controller of investment operations, a vice president at XL Capital.

Mr. Furbert, the UBP's adopted candidate for Hamilton West, acknowledged that he had a keen interest in running for Parliament again one day. "The reason why I didn't run (for Smith's South) is I'm committed to Hamilton Parish."

When asked if he would seek to renew his term as chairman when elections are called again in December, he said that would depend on whether he had achieved his goals and whether a General Election was called.

"If an election is called, I'll step down as chairman and run for election,' he said. As to the party's prospects in the upcoming by election for the Smith's South seat vacated by C.V. (Jim) Woolridge last month, he said all candidates would have to work hard. "I don't think any seat is safe. We have to get out there and work," he said.