Bermuda politics seldom gets more exciting than the Palace coup which saw Deputy Premier Ewart Brown oust Premier Alex Scott as the leader of the PLP and country.

Buoyed by strong opinion poll showings and enthusiastic supporters, the Tourism and Transport Minister threatened to walk out of politics if his leadership ambitions were again frustrated.

But after an intense period of lobbying where he met virtually every one of the Progressive Labour Party’s delegates in a whirlwind campaign up and down the Island, Dr. Brown won handsomely.

His intentions had been spotted early by former ally Renee Webb who revealed his intentions to the press and urged him to fight in the open.

A few days later Dr. Brown, who had twice stated he wouldn’t challenge in 2006, came out in the public, pledging radical change.

When Dr. Brown resigned from Cabinet, busy Works, Engineering and Housing Minister David Burch got Tourism added to his duties while Walter Lister took on Transport.

The campaign threatened to be a dirty one with anonymous opponents of Dr. Brown putting out a leaflet with his head superimposed on the body of a snake. But Dr. Brown received support from PLP co-founder Arthur Hodgson who said the party needed a bit more risk while former MPs Calvin Smith and Julian Hall also backed the bid.

However Brown supporters feared former Premier Jennifer Smith was pulling strings to secure an anti-Brown majority.

A week before the crunch vote Dr. Brown revealed his platform, saying an alternative would be found to putting the new hospital on the Botanical Gardens site while the bid for Independence would be put on hold.

Meanwhile speculation mounted on whether Paula Cox would run for the Premiership — she broke her silence two days before the vote to announce she would run as Alex Scott’s number two. Ms Cox said Dr. Brown’s platform had nothing distinct or innovative.

Meanwhile polls showed Ewart Brown is twice as popular as Alex Scott while Paula Cox would have more support in a head-to-head fight with Dr. Brown.

Mr. Scott blasted Dr. Brown’s campaign as being one of style over substance while he admitted his own style was to “make haste slowly”. He urged Randy Horton and Wayne Perinchief to resign the Cabinet after they came out openly for challenger Dr. Brown but Mr. Scott also signalled a slow-down on the drive for Independence.

And the signs looked good for Mr. Scott, who delivered a blistering speech at the opening of the PLP delegates conference which earned a storm of applause.

But the plaudits amounted to ‘thanks but no thanks’ when two days later Mr. Scott was turfed out of office when delegates vote 107 to 76 in favour of Dr. Brown.

Turning almost every criticism to his advantage Dr. Brown delivered the speech of a lifetime at Devonshire Rec while Mr. Scott’s flopped.

But the night didn’t go all Dr. Brown’s way as his supporter Randy Horton was soundly beaten in the deputy leader’s race by Paula Cox.

After Alex Scott resigned to Governor Sir John Vereker over the weekend, Ewart Brown was sworn in as Premier on Monday morning and ushered in his Cabinet.

Back came Nelson Bascome as Health Minister and Dennis Lister as Works and Engineering Minister while Phil Perinchief became the Attorney General in place of Larry Mussenden.

And the Senate took on a whole new look with 25-year-old Davida Morris being appointed to the Upper Chamber alongside former prosecutor Wayne Caines.

Dr. Brown most radical move was to set up a Ministry of Social Rehabilitation to address what he terms social dysfunction. It was tasked with looking at foster care, child care, social assistance and drugs under the stewardship of Dale Butler.