Three years ago at Devonshire Rec, Ewart Brown took on Alex Scott for the leadership of the PLP, but blew it.

He was sunk by one telling phrase which has been a millstone around his neck ever since: we had to mislead you.

It was meant to explain to delegates why the MPs had dumped Jennifer Smith hours after the 2003 election victory but without breathing a word of their plans before Bermuda went to the polls.

But the bluntness backfired.

Three years on: same venue, same candidates, same contest and Dr. Brown gave the most important speech of his life, wiping the floor with his opponent with a skilfully-crafted performance which secured him the post which has been his lifelong ambition.

Stunning though it was, he was buoyed by a muted effort from Alex Scott.

But to be fair the incumbent must have known from the smattering of applause as he made his way to the podium that it was all over. Perhaps he should have kept walking.

His 13-minute speech never ignited the audience for one moment before he shuffled off to polite but brief clapping. So different from the energy and humour of his conference opening effort just two days earlier.

The stage was set for Dr. Brown. Within two minutes he had lit a touch paper among the thronged PLP delegates. They lapped it up and gave him no fewer than 13 ovations.

If it was a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it then.

Savouring his victory last night Dr. Brown admitted his opponent’s speech had been subdued and he was puzzled why.

“I can only say that the speech I made tonight was probably one of the best I have ever made and I think it was a factor. I don’t know how much of a factor.

“There’s a friend of mine who said in a setting like that, there is ten to 15 percent of people who have not made up their mind and the speech could sway them.

“There was a wide margin of victory so I can’t say how much it was the speech.

“I knew the speech had been well received. Then I sat and waited, like Alex Scott, for the votes to be counted but I noticed we got a large number of votes early — we couldn’t tell where they were from. But as the count went on I became increasingly confident. And when it got near the halfway mark I took a big breath.”

Asked about the key factors, Dr. Brown said: “They liked the fact I said the party didn’t belong to any one segment of the party. They liked the reference to child care and child development.

“We need to relieve parents of the difficult economics of child care.”

Asked about vouchers he said: “It’s a possibility. I am looking at it.

“When you hear the issues in the street the political machinery has to hear that and do something about it. I hope I bring that skill to the table. We have no shortage of ideas but we need execution.”

And action was at the heart of his address to the delegates as he flailed his opponent’s lack of progress.

“In spite of what you’ve been hearing you are not better off today than you were three years ago — neither is your neighbour and neither is your son or your daughter.

“The Premier was asked about poverty and a host of things that have to do with the quality of life of Bermudians and responded: ‘We are going to make a step in that direction’.

“Make a step? After eight years we should be doing more than making a step. We should be feeling the impact of steps already taken.”

Growing in confidence, Dr. Brown was able to cheekily refer back to the quote which some thought might have scuppered his political career.

He said: “People can attack my record of action and execution all they please — it’s merely an attempt to mislead you.”

Attacking the behind the scenes manoeuvring by opponents, he said: “Ominous things have been said about my seeking the leadership of this party.”

He added later: “I am not going to apologise for my ambition — particularly when it is not blind or aimless and has been fortified by many years of preparation — education, hard work, teamwork, deference, deferral and service.

“My objective is to have every child of every PLP member and every child of Bermuda aspire to great heights. Why can’t a child aspire to be leader of Bermuda?

“Why can’t I aspire to be leader of Bermuda?

“Is it because I was off seeking to make things happen in Tourism and missed some Central Committee meetings that I cannot seek the leadership?

“Is it because my vision might lead to division? Is there an assumption that our party is so weak, so frail, that we are in such bad shape that we cannot withstand a scheduled constitutional leadership contest 18 months before we have to call an election?”

He said it had been his right to stand and the right of Wayne Perinchief and Randy Horton to stand “without being invited to resign from their Cabinet positions 48 hours before the delegates make their decision.

“And people are accusing me of being divisive?

“This is why our party, the PLP, has had such a tumultuous history — why disagreements were turned into expulsions — why every time one of us seeks to offer leadership we are accused of dividing the party. That to me is unacceptable.

“But no one can own the party. The party belongs to all of us.

“It is time to se the party free.”

In the lead up to the vote much was made of the Jennifer Smith bloc — who would be told to vote against Dr. Brown’s ambitions.

But he told The Royal Gazette they had overplayed their hand. “People are tired of it. If you want us to come into your party, you must allow us to come in and go up.

“If young people know they can come into the organisation and go up we will be fine.”

Dr. Brown has hankered after the Premiership all his life. But he had prepared himself for the worst.

“But all my life, because I know I have an appetite for lofty goals, I always have a plan B so I can be happy in the morning.

“If this hadn’t happened tonight I would be at home thinking about it but moving into plan B.”

He needn’t have bothered. Last night the PLP delegates were happy to adopt plan A.