Blair during the summer. We think they will have a good deal more in common than the similarity in their ages. After years of Tory rule in Britain Mr.

Blair, at least for a start, has moved his "new Labour'' Party to the middle ground. Premier Gordon's United Bermuda Party has occupied a similar middle ground in Bermudian politics for more than 30 years. In any case, Mr. Blair, a privately educated Labourite elitist, is bound to be fascinated by Premier Gordon's ancestry.

We noticed that Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith said that the Progressive Labour Party has a relationship with the British Labour Party. That may be but it has long been evident that the PLP's friends in the UK Labour Party are all on the unreformed left wing fringes while Mr. Blair has been leading Labour to the centre. Mr. Blair's thrust is to make his Labour Party inclusive and to move away from socialism and the labour unions while Bermuda's PLP remains unreformed and insular.

Now Mr. Blair's huge House of Commons majority will allow him to do just about as he pleases. That may encorage the more radical elements in the Labour Party to reassert themselves. That situation is exactly what many people fear would happen in Bermuda after a PLP victory; that moderates like Jennifer Smith would be pressured by the more radical members.

For years many Bermudians have thought that Bermuda's intersts in London were better looked after by Tory governments. That may no longer be true now that British Labour is more centrist. The big question is Labour's views on Independence and special status for the few remaining colonial territories of which Bermuda will soon be the largest. Doubtless that will be discussed when Premier Gordon gets to London.

The fact that Premier Gordon is planning to visit London and Mr. Blair is entirely healthy. A great deal can often be accomplished face to face. Bermuda will miss the strong support it has had in the UK from Conservative MP Rupert Allason who has now narrowly lost his seat. He has been a good friend to Bermuda and has given this tiny Country access to the top.

We need to establish relationships in London, especially since Labour's huge majority indicates that if it performs well it may well be around for a long time. Contact with Mr. Blair could have been achieved earlier. It seemed strange to us that former Premier David Saul went to London to meet with Prime Minister John Major but failed to see Mr. Blair at a time when it was becoming clear that Mr. Blair was a winner. Perhaps that's one of the reasons Pamela Gordon is Premier.