Senator Gina Spence-Farmer gives the lowdown to Matthew Taylor on her arch critic David Burch, constituency opponent Dale Butler and the flak that has come her way since joining the United Bermuda Party. Politics has been a rocky road for Gina Spence-Farmer who was famously given both barrels by Senator and Housing Minister David Burch in the Senate recently as he told the nation he wanted to have her arrested.

She lost her job at Bermuda College in November 2005 when she opted to represent the United Bermuda Party in the Upper House and she has been in the firing line ever since from elements of the black community who see her as a sell-out.

Her decision has cost her professionally in lost work for her performing arts company, claims Mrs. Spence-Farmer.

“I used to do Harbour Nights and Concerts in the Park — jobs that I once held have disappeared. I have had black people challenge me and disrespect me because I am in the UBP.

“I don’t take it personally, that’s why we have to fight — to bring some balance.

“My very first call when I joined the UBP was from a very prominent pastor in the community who had problems with me being in the party.

“He said I ‘didn’t know what those white people did to us’. I wasn’t denying him.

“I am sure he had those experiences, but how much better would I be if I got in a position of power and only helped black people? Any injustice is an injustice.”

Her choice of party has raised questions in some people’s minds.

“A lot of people assumed because I am black, I am grassroots, because I live in the back of town, I just had to be a member of the PLP. A lot people make that wrong call on other people — it is not a given.”

And she feels more people are breaking free of stereotypes and questioning what the parties are actually offering them — especially young people.

Politicians who take people for granted do so at their peril, she said. And if there is one person who can shake off all the abuse it is her — she has dealt with far worse.

Coming from a family of 13, Mrs. Spence-Farmer had rough upbringing. “I have probably been in every foster care home in the Island,” she said. “I grew up in an alcoholic environment.

“Sitting in the Senate where they are talking about social ills — a lot of the time they are talking about my experience.”

But despite the adversity, her mom taught her a lot.

“She worked tirelessly,” Mrs. Spence-Farmer said. “She taught us you don’t use your poverty or your situation as an excuse — we had to work, save, be responsible, there was discipline.

“And she loved us — unconditionally. I believe that is the bedrock of who I am and what I do.

“I know what it means to be a single parent, my mother was one. I raised my two daughters as a single parent before I remarried. I bring that voice and reality to the table.”

Her entrance into politics came as a Christian calling and she underwent lengthy counselling with her pastor before finally taking the plunge.

“I said I feel like I am being called into politics but I don’t feel it’s something I want to do — it can be very vicious and callous, people are unkind.

“A lot of times politicians lie and they don’t really help people. “So I struggled with that whole thought — it was a two-year process.

“I prayed and went to my pastor and said ‘it won’t leave me’. I need to understand why God is sending me there.”

She even embarked on a year’s leadership study looking at biblical and world leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy.

A strong religious conviction had been at the heart of many a great leader, said Mrs. Spence-Farmer who researched both parties as she had no prior affiliation. “I realised there was no perfect group — they both had their issues.

“What really drove me to join the UBP one was their core values — when I look at the constitution and the fact diversity is a part of who they are and what they fought for — you look back as far as Henry Tucker and Gloria McPhee — it was always about diversity.

“And then when I looked at their plan — for education, housing and seniors, this was a plan I could not only support but present to other people.”

The softly-spoken 43-year-old mother-of-three might be a relative political newcomer but it has not spared her the wrath of Senator Burch. She takes it all in her stride.

“He’s someone a lot of people find to be obnoxious, rude, short-handed, sometimes abrupt. I see a man who doesn’t like people to get close to him and I do that all the time.”

One such close encounter led to him turning her down for a slot on his radio show. “People are protective of themselves for all sorts of reasons, I don’t know exactly what his reason is, but those are the people I am drawn to. The Bible says you love those who despise you. It doesn’t change in the political arena.”

Indeed she has a very amicable relationship with PLP Minister Dale Butler who is her opponent in Warwick North East, a seat he took by just 38 votes last time after holding off challenger Mark Pettingill.

The battle for seat 25 is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing head-to-head fights of the forthcoming election.

She said Mr. Butler taught her daughter at Dellwood and the pair have worked on arts projects together — she has judged his fishcake events while he has been invited to her youth events.

“People understand there is a mutual respect between us,” she said. “I look at Mr. Butler as an educator and will always wonder why the PLP never gave him that ministry.

“I believe if it had been given that push in the early days, I don’t believe the education system would be as bad as it is. That was his strength.”

Instead Mr. Butler had lingered on the backbench before being given something that was by no means his first choice.

She said in some ways she would be sorry to see Mr. Butler go if she beats him but she quickly points out his effectiveness has been reduced because of his isolation.

“A lot of times you see Dale Butler by himself. You don’t see the party rallying around him.

“That’s what separates me from him — from the very beginning I was embraced — my thoughts and ideas accepted and put out to the community.”

Similarly she said the PLP had squandered Wayne Perinchief’s talents after pointing out he had come up through the Police ranks to reach Assistant Commissioner but had never been given the Public Safety brief.

“I think the PLP missed out on a huge opportunities to put those in place, people who without a shadow of doubt could have served this community nine years ago in a huge way in those areas we look at — crimes, drugs, education. They were never placed there — why?”

She has been canvassing for a year and a half and has bumped into Mr. Butler who is also known for his enthusiasm for pounding the doorstep.

But she said it was the voters who were noting Mr. Butler’s isolation, despite his hard work, with some wishing he would swap parties.

“For a lot of people it will be hard to choose,” she said. “The challenge for Dale is he will be judged on what the party has not done. When you look at the state of the country, he also has to be held responsible for that.”

Mrs. Spence-Farmer makes much of her Warwick roots. She worked as a post lady there in a diverse career which has also seen her do drug prevention work in schools.

But it was her role as host of TV’s ‘Youth Talk’ which put her on the national stage, where she tackled meaty subjects such as teen pregnancies, children with disabilities, high school drop-outs and drug addiction among the young.

“We went into the crack houses and showed them shooting up — the show was very real.

“I think I was able to bridge the gap between the addict and the community because I worked in the trenches and spent many nights in the streets working with young men and women that had been addicted to drugs.”

Her performing arts company Gina Spence-Farmer Productions in Christ provides scholarships and housing allowances.

And she has mentored people like Shawn Crockwell and Charles Richardson — both reformed inmates who are now involved in politics at a relatively young age.

She said it was the young people who gave her a reality check as they were not moved by the old stereotypes seeking to cement the racial divide.

“They don’t like it, they have friends on both sides of the equation they would stand and defend at any given time. It is the older generation still struggling with it.

“I do this because of my grandson. I don’t want him to live in a Bermuda where he has to defend who he is. Why should he have to choose? He is Bermudian. I have a grandson who is biracial, I have a niece who is biracial. So the race issue starts right in my home.

“That’s why I fight for education, for it to be addressed in a way that’s fair. That’s why the UBP tout education as one of the most effective ways to address race. If every kid was able to get a good education, it would eradicate these disparities. Education is empowerment.”

Any Government talking about race and opportunity has to talk about education, she said. “The PLP are failing, there are no two ways about it.”

She supports the Government’s latest racial initiative but urged PLP MPs to sign off on a policy promising not to use racial slurs. “If we are going to deal with it, let’s start with ourselves.”