The United Bermuda Party has been operating like a "secret society" since last month's high-profile departures, according to a long-serving former election candidate still with the UBP.

Tillman Darrell said he's unable to tell people on the streets what's going on inside the beleaguered party — because its remaining MPs and Senators are plotting the way forward themselves, behind closed doors.

And he claimed whomever ends up leading the UBP will have an extremely difficult job convincing certain MPs of the need for change despite a string of defections from people frustrated at the failure to reform.

Mr. Darrell — who ran for the UBP in the last General Election in Pembroke South East, a Progressive Labour Party stronghold — said if an election was called tomorrow the UBP would struggle to find enough candidates to fight in all Bermuda's 36 seats.

That view was backed up by three recently departed party organisers contacted independently by The Royal Gazette.

One of those said there was virtually nobody left in the branches under the age of 45; another said older party members had been forced to come to the forefront due to the lack of new blood — although the youth wing is still active.

Mr. Darrell, who joined the UBP in the early 1990s, told this newspaper he had been calling for reform long before MPs Shawn Crockwell, Donte Hunt and Mark Pettingill resigned in mid-September.

Asked what had been going on in the party since their resignations, Mr. Darrell said: "The UBP is not operating like a united party — it's a secret society at this point, to the frustration of branch members and regional chairs.

"Meetings have been taking place among the parliamentary group behind closed doors. People on the streets are asking questions but we don't have all the answers because we are not involved in the meetings.

"We should be the first to find out what's going on, rather than relying on The Royal Gazette to fill us in on what's going on."

Former Opposition leader Wayne Furbert last week claimed aspiring leader Bob Richards was a non-reformist who fought against change, while similar accusations have been made against leader Kim Swan and former leader Grant Gibbons

Mr. Darrell said: "I think the MPs, a few of them are frustrated as well. They are not sure about the direction of the party. Whoever steps in as leader has a major task on their hands. The difficulty is going to be that there are a few people in the party that truly think the UBP can stay the way it is and win an election in the future.

"The idea of changing the name, the idea of changing the type of candidates and perception of the UBP is not accepted by them.

"Kim Swan has had two years. I don't think Bermuda can handle another term of this UBP nonsense. It's not good for Bermuda. Anyone will tell you, even if you are a good team, if the opposition is not good then you are not going to play well. Right now the perception is the UBP is non-existent."

The UBP is pushing through a change in its constitution to allow more people a say in picking its leader. However, Mr. Darrell said that was not enough.

"All the leaders that we have had have had access to the information showing what needs to be done. In my view, the ball has been dropped," he said. "In the past, leaders have used the word that they are committed to 'change' as a political sound bite, but internally embracing change is where they fall short.

"The party has made some baby steps by tweaking the constitution, in particular how we select our leader. Right now the focus is on the leadership issue. But a change of leader is not going to have much of a footprint in what's necessary for the UBP to do. We have done that a few times but still the results are the same.

"I say to colleagues and supporters of the UBP, their anger and frustration should not be directed at the PLP, it should be directed at the UBP for doing very little to become a better or more effective Opposition.

"The road map is out there for them. It speaks of the removal of certain MPs, changing the name, the whole way the UBP goes about politics. The writing is on the wall for the UBP that unless they do something to reinvent themselves, they may find themselves in a position of Opposition for a long time."

Premier Ewart Brown is refusing to rule out cashing in on disarray within the UBP by calling a snap election.

Mr. Darrell said: "I think if an election was called tomorrow they would be very hard-pressed to find candidates to run in every constituency. I haven't seen anybody, unless they magically have some people waiting in the background that I'm not aware of.

"There are people that were financiers and major supporters behind the UBP that you could not get them to support the UBP the state it's in now. People ask me why am I still there. That's confirmation enough to me to know that they believe the time for the UBP to operate the way they do now is over."

Sources close to the UBP say up to 20 party members quit around the time of Mr. Crockwell, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Pettingill. This newspaper understands that figure includes about eight branch chairs from across the Island.

One member who resigned told this newspaper: "It was becoming apparent to me that there was a split in the party and it was in my opinion the young versus the old and unwilling to change. Meetings became frustrating as there were those screaming out for some change and then there were the ones who believed business as usual was how it should be — and they usually won the battle."

Victoria Clipper, secretary and co-chair of the party's youth wing, Young United, said that group was still active.

"We are still very much alive and working behind the scenes with the UBP to continue to promote the party," she said in a statement. "Young United is behind the UBP 100 percent and we are committed to the values and beliefs of the party and believe that our past successes stand us in good stead for the future. We may have lost some of our members but I believe that was a premature move.

"Being a member of the central executive committee we are now beginning to implement our plans for the future after our third election defeat and we are laying down the strategies to take the party forward."