A former Progressive Labour Party premier reflected on the past and looked to the future as a portrait of him was unveiled tonight.

Ewart Brown told a crowd of supporters in the Reginald A. Burrows Building, the party headquarters, that politicians should always seek to challenge the status quo.

Dr Brown, who served as premier from 2006 to 2010, said: “A politician who is satisfied with the status quo should let go, and we should look for people who want to bring about change — if you don’t agree that change is necessary, then you’re simply part of the wallpaper.”

The portrait, completed by award-winning local artist Nahshon Hollis, was unveiled to applause and will be hung alongside national heroes such as former party leader and Attorney-General Dame Lois Browne-Evans and the founder of the Bermuda Industrial Union, E.F. Gordon.

Dr Brown was first elected to the House of Assembly in the 1993 General Election when he defeated former premier Sir John Sharpe under the dual-seat system.

He was appointed the PLP’s first minister of transport in 1998, elected deputy party leader in 2003 and took on the tourism portfolio a year later.

Reflecting on Dr Brown’s 2006 election as PLP leader, David Burt said: “I know so many people who joined this party on that fateful night after you became leader.

“I, as party chairman, organised this great reception, and now some of those people that joined the party that night are now ministers of that same government.”

The Premier added: “Leadership was never being about being liked; it was about doing what was right.

“You made difficult choices, often at a personal cost, so that others could live easier and more dignified lives.”

Dr Brown recalled urging PLP MPs to enact at least one change in Bermuda each month.

He said: “I remember saying to ministers on more than one occasion, ‘If in your ministry you can’t think of anything to change in Bermuda in a month, change the name of a school in your constituency’.

“I did that not because I felt it was necessary to press for results, but by then I had learnt that the best of us require stimulation.”

Dr Brown’s tenure as Minister of Tourism and Transport oversaw the introduction of fast ferries, the building of the Heritage Wharf cruise terminal in Dockyard, and stars such as Beyoncé and Alicia Keys performing in the Bermuda Music Festival.

Dr Brown drew outrage when he brought four Uighurs released from Guantánamo Bay detention facility to Bermuda in 2009 without consulting his Cabinet or the British Government.

Mr Burt said: “The decision to accept Uighur detainees placed Bermuda on the international stage. It was difficult and costly, but it was the right thing to do.”

Several people, including former deputy premier Walter Roban, MPs Kim Swan and Jamahl Simmons, and Derrick Burgess, the former deputy speaker of the House of Assembly also paid tributes to Dr Brown.

Mr Roban said: “I believe that his heart was very much about our people and our people being empowered to do better than we had in the past.

“Whether that was in Cabinet or down here at Alaska Hall, he was about empowering people and making sure they believed in themselves; that is how Dr Brown conducted himself.”

Dr Brown concluded: “Please remember, there are two Ps in PLP, but not one of them stands for ‘passive’.”