Governor Sir John Vereker winds up his tenure on Friday after a lengthy spell at the helm which has seen him stand his ground against various Premiers.

And the public could be forgiven for thinking the atmosphere has been a frosty one between Cabinet Office and Government House in his time in charge.

In 2004 then Premier Alex Scott wrote to Britain asking them to "uninvite" Sir John to the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting in London.

And he later blasted him over public remarks made at the Speaker's Dinner where Sir John said the UK would withdraw citizenship from an Independent Bermuda – a claim Mr. Scott described as "premature and inappropriate".

The pair clashed again over the appointment of Richard Ground as Chief Justice.

And things have been equally turbulent with new Premier Ewart Brown who had his request to split his weekly meetings with the Governor between Cabinet Office and Government House turned down flat. Later Dr. Brown threatened to suspend relations with the Governor if he did not do more to find the mole who leaked the Police files into corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

With all that Sir John could be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief when he boards the plane on Friday lunchtime as he winds up a lengthy term which began back in February 2002.

But in recent months Sir John has spelled out time and again his love for Bermuda, even shedding tears at a leaving party late last month.

And away from the bluster of politics Sir John said there was a softer side to dealings with Government not necessarily known by the public.

He said relations with the Premier are "excellent" and told of how the Cabinet hosted him for lunch at Camden, and the Premier gave "a very warm speech".

"It is not for me to say what he said but it would give the lie to anyone who said the relationship wasn't a good one. Then he presented us with a very generous gift - an absolutely lovely painting - a water colour by Lisa Quinn."

He said Dr. Brown's wife was to host a lunch for Lady Vereker - as did Norma Wade-Miller who Sir John famously rejected as Chief Justice in favour of Richard Ground.

The law and order issue has been a flash point during his tenure. Public Safety Minister David Burch called for Government to be given the operational control of the Police, something which Sir John quickly shot down as unconstitutional.

And he is keen to challenge the common assumption that violence was forever on the up as he pointed out that crimes of violence were down in the last quarter compared to four years ago.

"Crimes of violence since I have been here have not increased.

"I don't know how many times I have had to say this to stop people writing headlines that 'crime is out of control'.

"Violence is what people worry about most - murder, grievous bodily harm, wounding, sexual assault, firearms, robbery with assault."

He said non-violent theft and burglary had increased a little in line with other countries. "Theft and burglary increase by two to four percent a year and that is absolutely normal, regrettable, but normal in societies which are getting richer, where there is more stuff around and more drugs are being consumed."

He said Police arrested large numbers of people for drugs offences and had some success in catching drug shipments and some of those involved.

"Are they successful in stopping street trading? Show me anywhere where they are. We could this evening drive the street traders away from the places where they trade and they will trade somewhere else.

"It is very easy to displace it. The problem is demand. Demand for unlawful drugs is quite high which is shown in the street price of drugs - there is a great deal of money here and that provides a great incentive for people to smuggle drugs in.

"The only effective way to deal with the drug trade is not to start lifting street traders and putting them in Westgate for a few weeks which has absolutely no effect.

"The only effective way is to reduce demand - to send home the message from birth to the end of school that doing drugs will ruin your life and the life of everyone around you."

He said that message was not given consistently by role models, families and in schools.

Asked how demand could be reduced when drug dealing had become the norm in some neighbourhoods, Sir John said both he and the Police Commissioner agreed with high visibility Policing in such areas.

"I think you will see, in fact you should already be seeing, as a result of the new shift system, a few more visible Police officers per shift in these areas. What you have to watch out for, as always, is suddenly shifting resources to the latest media attention."

Some believe his appointment of Vinette Graham-Allen as Director of Public Prosecutions was a mistake with all the rancour and resignations which followed but, ever the diplomat, he will not be drawn.

And he is cagey on where his own career lies although he can confirm he has bought a few weeks fractional ownership of an apartment at the Newstead.

Sir John is keen to pay tribute to the role of wife Lady Vereker and said the pair of them had only tried to do what was best for Bermuda and had no 'secret agenda' from London.

Next Governor Sir Richard Gozney's is due to start his term on December 12 - in the meantime Deputy Governor Mark Capes will fill in. And despite his years in the hot seat Sir John said he wouldn't need to give any advice to his successor.

"He is a very bright guy, he is a professional diplomat. He is used to going into unfamiliar environments and picking them up."