Former UBP leader Wayne Furbert has branded the selection of Senator Charlie Swan as the Opposition's candidate for the Southampton West Central by-election a backward step.

He said the party needed a candidate of stature who could be a future leader but instead the leadership had sat on its hands and then made the wrong choice.

He told The Royal Gazette: "This is a step backwards as I don't believe Charlie Swan represents the type of change we want to move in.

"He's a nice guy, but we have missed a golden opportunity to go out and find a better candidate than Charlie Swan and also a possible candidate who could be a future leader of the UBP.

"We are lacking leadership in the UBP overall – I am not saying Kim – and the wisdom to look for the long term.

"We need to find someone the public can get excited about and move forward."

Asked if it was a tall order to find such a candidate in such a short time, Mr. Furbert said: "That's where they made a mistake. I understand people knew about the resignation of Jon Brunson for weeks, for months, that is where the problem is.

"If they knew about it why keep it so long – a couple of weeks before we go back to the House? They made a politically wrong gamble."

However one party source close to the situation said claims that the UBP knew way in advance of Mr. Brunson's resignation was "unfair, misleading and mischievous".

Mr. Furbert said reformers in the party would even have preferred the selection of Michael Dunkley because of the fire power he would have brought to the House.

"He has always been there and fought hard for the party.

"They had Wayne Scott who showed himself as a hard worker in Warwick and won a significant amount of support among the black community so they overlooked him and made a fundamental error.

"To me the group doesn't really want change but I am not sitting here and saying nothing anymore."

The party has been split. Reformist MPs have at times called for a name change, for the older, white MPs to stand down, and even for a new party to be formed.

Meanwhile traditionalists believe the party can break its losing streak if it sticks to its guns.

Mr. Furbert said on a personal basis he was glad for Sen. Swan, who he had helped bring in to the party, but he added: "To get the best batsman in Parliament we need an all-rounder to help deal with the PLP and he's not the man to pick."

UBP leader Kim Swan said his party had chosen someone who was committed and had high integrity to defend the Opposition's 142-vote majority against Progressive Labour Party candidate Marc Bean.

Mr. Swan said: "You have an entrepreneur, a businessman who has stayed in this country, who has a commitment to employing people, who lives in the constituency.

"I think it is unfair to be labeled anything less than a very good and high quality candidate."

Sen. Swan, who is managing director of C.F. Batson Swan Plumbing and Heating grew up in the White Hill area, attending Southampton Glebe and Warwick Academy before earning a business degree at Acadia University in Canada.

Leader Kim Swan added: "You have probably heard of Joe the Plumber, today we have Bermuda's own 'Charlie the Plumber' to represent the United Bermuda Party."

A lifelong Southampton resident, Sen. Swan fought off interest from former leader Michael Dunkley, Jeff Sousa, Wayne Scott and Roderick Simons.

Sen. Swan said: "I was chosen against some very worthy compatriots who were opponents at this time but we are all still friends at the end of it.

"I am really proud to have been given this opportunity to be of service to the people of Constituency 31."

A regular churchgoer at St. Michael's Church, he is married with two boys, 23 and 20. He and his family live just off St. Anne's Road.

He said the seat was more rural than most others. "Some concerns involve the environment and overdevelopment. There is also concern with crime."

The poll, set for Thursday, December 4, could shape Bermuda politics for years to come with the UBP arguing over whether it is still electorally viable.

At the December election Mr. Brunson won 57 percent of the vote against 42 percent for Mr. Bean.

Mr. Furbert, who has already expressed severe doubts about whether the UBP could ever win power again, said: "If we lose we might as well put a sign outside our door next day saying 'Closed and for sale' and I will hold everyone of those who selected him responsible. If we come back strong, they may say, 'Everything is well fellas, let's get back to work'."

However he conceded the intervention of a third candidate could affect both parties. All Bermuda Congress representative Khalid Wasi has expressed interest in standing but has yet to commit.

The by-election – only the second since Bermuda moved to smaller, single-seat constituencies – could also become a referendum on Dr. Brown's popularity after a September poll gave him performance approval ratings of just 18 percent.