Devonshire South by-election. That will raise the question of the NLP's position in Bermudian politics.

Is it a viable party with a valid platform and a philosophy or is it simply as collection of people with very little philosophy in common who are disenchanted with the United Bermuda Party and the Progressive Labour Party? The wide spread of thinking in the NLP would indicate that it is held together by being outside the main stream rather than by any binding aims.

Is the NLP simply a spoiler in Bermudian politics? It does seem that when it fields candidates they get their votes from people who might normally support the PLP. When NLP Leader Charles Jeffers first switched from the PLP to the NLP and ran in Pembroke East Central he took sufficient votes from the PLP to allow the UBP to elect Lawson Mapp and Robert Barritt. On the other hand, Graeme Outerbridge once attracted a considerable number of protest votes in Smith's South because the UBP voters there were very disenchanted with one of the UBP candidates. We think that could happen again in a general election if the candidates remain the same. In Warwick East it has seemed that whenever former PLP MP Walter Brangman has run for the NLP it has allowed the UBP to elect candidates. In that sense the NLP can be both an alternative for voters and a real spoiler.

Does the NLP have a basic place in politics? It was, of course, formed by PLP members who were either thrown out of the PLP or who left because they were unhappy with the direction the PLP was taking and unhappy with the leadership of the PLP. At that time the NLP did quite well but the decrease in support has been steady until at the last election it finally lost its last MP, Gilbert Darrell. The truth seems to be that Gilbert Darrell's Hamilton East seat was very much a personal tribute rather than an NLP seat. Charles Jeffers has worked hard at a revival of the NLP but no one seems quite certain what he is reviving. It is of interest that the NLP may field a candidate in Devonshire South but has decided not to take part in the Paget East by-election. One would think that if they are serious they would have gone into both contests especially given the UBP's Paget East problems.

Does the NLP have a chance of forming a government? Almost certainly not because it has no wide support with the public and is unable generally to field a full slate of candidates although the NLP may well think that this time it can gather in some disenchanted UBP voters. The problem is that the party does not seem to have a basic philosophy to appeal to the public.

There is also a tendency in the NLP to get involved with unpopular issues. For instance, they supported Independence and espouse a review of the tax system while giving the impression that they are flirting with income tax. They must know that that is not the way to attract voters to any party.