Three things the United Bermuda Party can probably bank on are that Allan Marshall won't be crossing the floor, forming his own party, or quitting to sit in the House of Assembly as an Independent.

The official Opposition's candidate for Hamilton South — the first person any party has formally rolled out ahead of the next General Election — is in it for the long haul with the team he first represented as a Senator 13 years ago.

A keen critic of overspending by Government, Mr. Marshall believes the UBP's conservative approach to fiscal management is the only way Bermuda can claw itself out of the financial mess it finds itself in today.

The businessman was an Opposition MP for one term from 1998, but took a break from politics to spend time with his family after losing his seat to Patrice Minors seven years ago.

He made an attempted return in 2007, taking one for the team by challenging in one of the Island's safest Progressive Labour Party seats but getting well beaten by Deputy Premier Paula Cox in Devonshire North West.

You could argue his selection in the UBP-friendly Constituency Seven is a reward for his patience — and it's the lack of such a virtue from five former UBP MPs that he believes led to the Opposition's much-publicised internal chaos.

"Why UBP? Because I believe it has a blend of experienced Parliamentarians and business-related people; it also has a blend of experienced leadership, with young people coming in with youth and vigour," he said.

"I can't speak much to why those chaps left, except that perhaps they were being a bit impatient. They were all very new Parliamentarians from the election in 2007; I was quite surprised when I heard they would leave and start their own party.

"I certainly wouldn't have done it that way. I think they have broken the trust of the voters who put them in. It's up to them to answer to those voters at the next election.

"I think if you are going to do something, you have to do it honourably and with integrity."

One of the defectors, Darius Tucker, is the incumbent in Hamilton South and a possible opponent for Mr. Marshall at the next election. Mr. Tucker has said he doesn't know whether he'll stand again, but many expect him to join the Progressive Labour Party later this year.

Mr. Marshall insists reform is happening within the UBP despite the defectors' claims to the contrary, pointing to the new leadership election process and an increasingly bottom-up decision-making process. Individual MPs can help improve the party's image by getting into their communities, he added.

Mr. Marshall, the director of Somers Real Estate Opportunity Fund, describes himself as an eternal optimist, and predicts the UBP will not only win back the seats it has lost in the past two years — but go several steps further and reclaim power.

"You want to say to the community, 'Put us back in so we can fix this mess,'" he said. "I hope the community gives us a chance to get our hands back on the debt tiller so the ship would be sailing straight."

As well as his concerns over soaring debts, he believes Bermuda needs a contractor general, to take the politics out of tourism, freedom of information and to prioritise education reform.

"I'm a common sense kind of guy. If it makes sense, let's fix it," he said.

A former national team footballer — and the only white player for North Village at one stage in the late 1970s — Mr. Marshall believes sport can help teach young people vital life skills. "I think sport is a great avenue for keeping kids focused," he said. "The friendships that can be made are important, as is the discipline that comes with all sports, and the commitment one has to make to get better.

"Bermuda is an outdoors place. We could make a bigger effort to put more sport in the schools' curriculum. Idle hands create idle minds. But the biggest influence for any child is going to be its family. That's where the community needs to get it right."