Dr. Ewart Brown urged PLP delegates not to brand the rebel MPs as “traitors” during an impassioned speech last night as he bid to become leader of the party.

In his speech, obtained by The Royal Gazette, Dr. Brown said the dissident group had to oust Jennifer Smith for the good of the Country.

And he told party supporters that the PLP election rally on Tuesday night had been a sham display of unity as the candidates “misled” them about the true depth of discontent within the party.

He said the dissidents could not risk telling party supporters just how disaffected they were with Ms Smith's leadership in case it cost them the election.

“I want to start by telling you how sorry I am that the actions of my colleagues and I in not appearing with you on Thursday has led to some of you feeling disappointed, confused, angered, hurt and betrayed,” he said.

“I believe that history will judge our actions as being necessary and timely. ... We genuinely believed with all our hearts that we needed a change of leadership in Bermuda.

“We could not stand by one more day and privately critique and criticise the leadership for what we perceived to be irreparable shortcomings without criticising ourselves for a lack of courage and conviction and to do something about it.

“We had to stand up, ladies and gentlemen. We had to stand up. Sometimes in life you have to do things you do not want to do in order to bring about results that are essential for the greater good.

“Before you judge us as being arrogant, deceitful, traitors and all sorts of other names that might require a little soap, or before you say our actions were reprehensible or unconscionable, think about it for a moment.

“Eleven ministers and members of a Cabinet who are not best friends (this is no rat pack), who have disagreed over the course of the years about any number of things, who have never been aligned for any other reason, who might have talked among themselves in clusters but never met as a group before Thursday night, July 24, and as God is my witness, came together because we could no longer stand idly by and watch our beloved Bermuda list in the sea like a ship with no rudder. We had to stand up, ladies and gentlemen. We had to stand up.

“And while we missed the party with a little “p” on Thursday night, we did what was best for the party with the big “P” - the Progressive Labour Party.

“We did mislead you before Thursday by posing as a united front on Tuesday. We did mislead you - individually and collectively - on Thursday at the polls by smiling and being quiet about our level of discontent with the leadership and our intended action on Thursday evening.

“We misled you because we had to - because our greatest goal before Thursday was for the Party to win the election.

“And the reason you felt so betrayed is because we did everything in our power to pose as a united front so that we would do nothing to endanger winning this election.

“And, in everyone's constituencies, there are those who say: ‘Why didn't he tell me what he was thinking? I worked so hard for him'.

“We could not tell you what we were thinking. This was no subterranean plot where all our actions were mapped out and we were using you as decoys. First and foremost, we had to win this election.

“We could not afford to have a single voter be less than enthusiastic about this election. While we won by a majority of the constituencies, in total we won by 1,200 votes.

“We could not afford to show a splinter of disunity in the party or we might have lost the election. We needed every single vote we got.

“But as soon as we could let you know, which was immediately after we confirmed that we had won the government again, we could mislead you no longer.

“We could not come out on that stage on Thursday night and act as if nothing was wrong. We had to, by our actions, tell you, Bermuda, that it is time for change.

“So, what we did might have been wrong for us because we wanted to be with you - it was right for Bermuda. It may have been wrong for the party with the little “p” but it was right for the party with the big “P” and it was right for Bermuda because it is time for a change in Bermuda.

“And that is really what I want to talk to you about - change. You must admit in your heart of hearts that you have heard the rumblings of discontent.

“You have felt the growing impatience. You feel it every day, when your grown children with families have no place to live but with you. When your elderly parents and neighbours have to make the hard choice of whether something is going into their medicine cabinet or their refrigerator.

“When you see a mother lose her son to drugs and violence. When you see kids on the wall with nothing to do, with no playground in their neighbourhood. When you no longer feel safe with your doors unlocked and you hear about people getting beaten up and robbed.

“Bermuda is challenged right now, and we need a leader who is ready, willing and able to meet Bermuda's challenges. With all due respect to my opponent Minister Alex Scott, I believe that I am the right leader for Bermuda right now.

“I stand before you a a dedicated member of the PLP, a committed Bermudian, and one who will work to ensure we build a stronger country - a country with genuine equality of opportunity and a greater sharing of wealth.”

Dr. Brown then set out the reasons why he believed he would be the best leader of the party and his vision for Bermuda.

He said he would welcome ideas, no matter where they came from. And in what appeared to be a dig at former public relations man Alex Scott, he said: “I am committed to getting things right, not just spinning them right.”