Robert King, the Opposition leader, has described how the One Bermuda Alliance has committed itself to bolstering community outreach as it charts a path to return to the government.

It follows hard-hitting comments after Mr King was voted leader of the OBA last month at the party’s general meeting, when he said the Opposition’s communication strategy would need to be “robust and effective to meet the challenges of the Progressive Labour Party’s well oiled propaganda machine”.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette, Mr King, who defeated Ben Smith for the leadership role, said that while passions could run high in election campaigns, the party stood united in its vision of a better Bermuda.

He added: “We get on with it because we recognise the urgency of the situation. This is basically preparations to become the next government. It’s as simple as that.

“We are focused on winning the government and listening to what the members said. They wanted some changes. They wanted us to be bold and courageous. They wanted me to hammer them.

“Cool. This is the new playbook — this is what we are going to do.”

Mr King said the party was also keenly aware that it needed to listen to the concerns of its constituents and party members — and make itself responsive to their needs.

He highlighted the need to address national security in the wake of recent violence in the community.

Mr King said: “We know that health and safety is a major issue for the island, when you look at the number of murders that are occurring with young people and women now.

“When you are looking at the impact of murders in a small community like this, it affects all of us.”

He said that it is important to ensure that the police had the resources required and that at-risk children and families could get access to the services they needed with prevention measures installed across the island’s schools.

Mr King added that a data-driven approach was required, saying: “We are not going to just speak in slogans and say this is something nice. It has to be based on what works.”

He said that the OBA had to be more forceful in its messaging and highlighting the party’s successes in the face of attacks from the PLP.

The Opposition leader said: “We did a lot of great things, and of course there were some missteps along the way — but we are better informed.

“We continue to grow, we continue to take on board what has been said.”

Mr King highlighted that the Opposition had held meetings as part of his 100-day plan intended to strengthen the party and rebuild trust.

He added that the OBA was lining up two town hall meetings for the public next month.

The Opposition leader also said the OBA would work to support young voters, highlighting the party’s recent tabling of amendments to allow absentee voting.

He said: “That was something that was of extreme importance for those who had left Bermuda to pursue their studies overseas.”

Mr King said the OBA would look to table more amendments where appropriate, although they were limited by rules that the Opposition cannot table “money bills”.

He said: “As the Opposition, that is our role — to hold the Government to account, to see that there are gaps in the legislation and places that need to be changed.”

Mr King added that the OBA intended to be out and active in the community, engaging with residents across the board.

He said: “Being responsive to the needs of the community, that’s not something that just occurs and should not just occur when in an election cycle. That’s disingenuous.

“We are either committed to changing things in the community or we are not. If we are committed to changing things and being agents of change, we need to legitimately have a connection to these communities.”

Mr King acknowledged that the impending corporate income tax could provide a financial windfall to the public purse — but he emphasised that the revenue must be used responsibly.

He said: “That means we need to set aside money to pay towards our debt because it’s right now roughly $65,000 per person of debt. It is going to become more expensive with geopolitical stuff going on.

“We also recognise that health and safety are issues, and we would hope that money is set aside for that and infrastructure as well.

“There needs to be a strategic plan for the use of the funds, not just to put it into the Consolidated Fund to use it without any particular strategy.”

Mr King said that while the PLP has stated that the party has balanced the budget under its latest administration, the public had witnessed the deterioration of the island’s infrastructure.

“When you are going down the roads, look at the roads. Look at the condition of the sidewalks, look at the overgrowth, look at the number of schools and the shape that they are in.

“Having money and using it responsibly are two notably different things.”