Webb to run as independent candidate
A former Progressive Labour Party MP and cabinet minister plans to join the growing ranks of independent candidates declaring themselves for the next General Election.
Renée Webb confirmed that she will run in Devonshire North Central under a ten-point platform, one of which involved reducing the number of MPs in Parliament.
Ms Webb said that Bermuda had the highest concentration of MPs per capita in the world, which led to more money being lost to parliamentary salaries.
She added: “There are too many bench-sitters, too many people sitting there and not speaking up for their constituents, not speaking up for the country, and not speaking at all.”
Ms Webb, a former tourism minister, is running as an independent candidate since she believed that party politics have caused “much divisiveness, extensive debt, violence and community disruption”.
Alongside the plan to cut down on MPs on Parliament, there was a call for more diversity in representation in the House of Assembly.
Ms Webb said that she was not confident in the direction of the Progressive Labour Party government, but did not think the One Bermuda Alliance served as a strong Opposition.
Acknowledging fears that independent candidates only split votes opposing the party in power, she said it depended on the strength of the candidate.
She said she was confident the PLP did not have what it took to hold the public’s support in many constituencies.
Ms Webb added: “If they feel strongly about changing what’s happening in their country and if they’re dissatisfied with the Government, then vote independent.
“If you don’t vote for them then nothing’s going to stick. People will vote for other people, but that doesn’t mean you’ll split the vote.”
Ms Webb was known for her candour as a backbencher in the PLP, particularly for her rift with the party in June 2006, when she brought a Bill seeking an amendment to the Human Rights Act outlawing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Politicians from both parties failed to back the move.
Ms Webb gave news of her candidacy through pamphlets shared with constituents of Constituency 13.
The pamphlet said: “Renée believes that when one is called to serve the country, serve they must.
“Particularly, at a time when Bermuda is on a downward spiral under the Burt administration.
“Independent members of parliament, like those in most parliaments of the world can make a difference.”
Ms Webb, an entrepreneur, served as Bermuda’s representative to the European Union in Brussels from January 2019 to September 2020, her LinkedIn profile stated.
A graduate of The Berkeley Institute, Bermuda College and Queen’s University in Canada, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political studies and economics, followed by a master’s degree in international affairs at Schiller International University in Paris, and a doctorate in the humanities at the Sorbonne in the University of Paris.
She also studied international humanitarian law at the Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Ms Webb, who served as an MP from 1993 to 2007 and spent seven years as a Cabinet member, made a name for herself as outspoken once she was on the back bench.
She was the island’s first female telecommunications, tourism and information technology minister.
Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, won in Devonshire North Central in 2020, netting 65 per cent of the votes.