While Ewart Brown easily ousted sitting Premier Alex Scott in the leadership contest last year, it has been by no means the end of faction fighting in the Progressive Labour Party.

Opposition has come from all sources including Mr. Scott himself who has not minced words about the policy errors of his successor.

It took Mr. Scott just weeks to go public with his fears that Government could expose itself to accusations of corruption by soliciting large donations for PLP funds from foreign benefactors for Dr. Brown's Gala Ball to mark his accession to the Premiership.

Mr. Scott spoke out after the announcement that the Premier would host the event with top packages priced as high as $25,000.

And Mr. Scott promised to fight a rearguard action from the backbenches against any attempt to dump sustainable development from Government's agenda.

More recently he voiced criticism about the hiring of an American expert for a $400,000 study into the problem of young black males after Mr. Scott's Government had spent $50,000 for a similar study by a home-grown academic.

Dr. Brown's supporters faced strong opposition to moves to place his favourites in safe or winnable seats.

His ally, Education and Sports Minister Randy Horton, was actually rejected by his branch in favour of a relative unknown, forcing the party hierarchy to intervene.

Moves to remove or block Jennifer Smith loyalists such as Ashfield DeVent, Dean Foggo or Walter Roban failed. However, the Premier's supporters were able to shunt out sitting MP George Scott into a neighbouring no-hope seat and replace him with ally El James while Attorney General Phil Perinchief was also picked over the local choice for St. George's South.

The unseemly scramble for seats led to a broadside from Dr. Brown's former friend turned foe Renee Webb, who backed George Scott and lambasted Dr. Brown for ruthlessly trampling on someone who had supported his leadership bid.

She said then: "The fact that the Premier is circumventing the process is astounding, but not surprising. His modus operandi is that rules are made for others not him.

"He is known to use people to get what he wants and then step on them.

"The same way he betrayed both former Premiers by not being up front from the beginning that he was going to challenge them, points to the man he is, George is just another victim."

The seat carve-up saw two white candidates emerge, both friends of Dr. Brown, Zane DeSilva and Jane Correia.

Political commentator Tom Vesey said it was significant that Dr. Brown had got whites to run for the PLP — even if they were friends of the Premier.

"They might not be the ideal candidates and they might be developer connections but I hope it's the start of something bigger," Mr. Vesey said.

The Ewart Brown Premiership has also seen a changing political landscape on the Opposition benches.

Wayne Furbert was replaced by Michael Dunkley while Jamahl Simmons first quit the United Bermuda Party to become an independent MP before crossing the floor to join the Government.

Public rancour in the UBP, which also saw Maxwell Burgess make several critical statements about his party, prompted pundits to wonder why Premier Brown did not opt for an election earlier this year to capitalise on Opposition disarray.

The Ewart Brown era has also seen a more aggressive parliamentary style, demonstrated when he used the term 'racist dog' in a heated diatribe aimed at Grant Gibbons and spoke of 'crossing the floor' to continue the confrontation.

Dr. Brown has also taken a more combative approach with the Governor.

It started with an earlier manoeuvre to get the weekly meetings to be held alternately at Cabinet Office and Government House and calls for the Governor to be barred from meetings between the British Government and the overseas territories.

But new revelations about the BHC crisis saw the Premier heighten hostility levels much further when he accused Governor Sir John Vereker of not doing enough to stop the Police files being leaked.

He went on national TV and threatened to suspend relations with the Governor unless more was done to hunt the leakers.

In the same week, Government Senate Leader David Burch called on the Governor to hand over his constitutional responsibility for the Police.

Former Premier Alex Scott then went public with fears the situation could spiral into a unilateral declaration of independence like in southern Rhodesia.

The crisis also sparked an outcry from the international press while Bermuda International Business Association CEO Cheryl Packwood said Dr. Brown risked jeopardising the Island's reputation as an elite financial jurisdiction based on political stability.

Some think the stand-off was little more than bluster.

Mr. Vesey said he thought the Premier was having fun tweaking the nose of the Governor.

"I suspect most of it to be b.s. — that he's just doing it for the theatre of it," he said. "I don't think he would ever stop dealing with the Governor."

But environmentalist and former Independent MP Stuart Hayward said the Premier seemed to want to stir up emotions badly enough to trigger Independence in anger.

"Whenever there's a possibility to create an event to trigger an emotional response, particularly among the party faithful and the community in general he has taken advantage," he said. "Whenever there has been a possibility of a wound, the administration has been throwing salt into it."

Mr. Hayward said it was clear that Dr. Brown is not a consensus builder.

"His style is one of alienation and divisiveness and trying to increase support on one hand by intimidation and on the other with unquestionable loyalty," he said.