Constitution is changed, according to the latest opinion poll.

And the group leading the campaign for a constitutional conference is claiming a victory, saying that the poll results show that most voters support its aims.

President of The Association for Due Process and the Constitution, Sir John Plowman said: "The association's position is that any representative conference must be truly representative and should include delegates from the major organisations in Bermuda above and beyond the political parties. Thus the association would expect representatives of a wide grouping of interests to be in attendance at any conference. The poll results bear out the desire of the public for broad inclusion in the process of amending the Constitution.'' The association threatened to sue the Foreign Office over the matter after FCO officials left the Island following three days of talks in April on constitutional reform, saying that a conference was neither on nor off the table.

But the FCO team suggested that the consultation at Government House was better than a constitutional conference. The poll, which was conducted by Research Innovations, show that just under 11 percent agree that the visit by the FCO team was enough consultation.

Almost 51 percent answered "no'' when asked if they considered the FCO visit as sufficient consultation. Another 38 percent said they weren't sure. But an overwhelming majority -- 84 percent of those polled said that if a conference was held it should include all interested groups. Just over seven percent said it should include only the political parties and eight percent said they weren't sure.

"We are not surprised at the poll results,'' said the association's secretary Warren Cabral.

"It appears that what people want is for all the important groups in our society to get round a table and reach an agreement that everyone can be proud of.'' New opinion poll reveals huge voter support for a constitutional conference He said many of the association's supporters actually supported Government's proposals but are "horrified at the way the proposals are being rammed through''.

The results also show greater support for the association's position among whites than blacks.

Seventy one percent of blacks said they wanted a conference before constitutional reform, compared to close to 82 percent of whites.

Almost 12 percent of blacks said they didn't support a conference -- among whites the corresponding figure was close to five percent.

Significantly, a substantial amount of people said they were not sure to all of the questions asked.

To the survey's main question `Do you personally support the idea of holding a representative conference before any changes to the Bermuda Constitution are made ?', 15 percent responded `not sure'.

The second question was more involved and one that the FCO team would take issue with. "In 1966, the British Government promised the people of Bermuda that any further constitutional changes would only be made after first holding a representative conference. The promise was endorsed in 1979 and again in 1989. Do you think that the British Government should keep that promise today ?'' Over 24 percent said they were "not sure'' in response.

Ian Hendry, who led the FCO delegation in April told The Royal Gazette that he was not aware of any promise made after 1966.

And 38 percent were in the `uncertain' category to the question on whether the FCO visit was sufficient consultation.

Broken down by race the results showed a greater amount of uncertainty among black respondents than among white respondents.

Almost as many blacks (44 percent) said they were not sure whether the FCO visit was enough consultation as said that it was not (43 percent).

Among whites, over 66 percent said they did not think the visit was enough consultation, while 28 percent said they weren't sure.

The poll was taken between May 6 and May 12 and the results released yesterday represented responses from registered voters.

No questions on the content of the proposed changes were asked.

Yesterday, association secretary Warren Cabral reiterated to the electronic media an oft-stated position that the association was concerned only with the process, not the content of the proposals.