Jason Hayward would strengthen the island’s social structures to ensure “no one falls through the cracks” if he becomes the Premier, he has said.

Mr Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, who is running to succeed David Burt as leader of the Progressive Labour Party, said he would put a social development strategy in place if he was elected.

Mr Hayward, who threw his hat into the leadership ring in February, said: “A hallmark of a Jason Hayward leadership is ensuring that we have a social development strategy. Being the Minister of Economy and Labour, I put in an economic development strategy and our economy is now more resilient than it was.

“The same needs to be done with some of the social challenges that are happening in Bermuda. We need to have a robust strategy that ensures that we empower the people of Bermuda, that we provide interventions at every stage of life, that we focus on early childhood development, kids having a strong education, workforce development, and strengthening labour protections and social protections.

“Social development would be a key feature. Having the Ministry of Economy and Labour, I don’t have the latitude to implement the level of social interventions and policies that I would like to see.

“I have a strong social justice background so I believe in this notion of a rising tide lifts all boats, that we shouldn’t leave people behind or have them fall through the cracks, and that people are living in Bermuda with a sense of dignity.”

Mr Hayward said there were specific areas he would address as leader such as ensuring the island delivered a strong public education system along with affordable housing.

He added: “The first step is making the PLP a dynamic party, putting in place a strategic plan for the party, bringing more youth into the party and ensuring that we have general footprint in every aspect of the Bermudian community.

“A united PLP works best for the Government and a united PLP means we can work better collectively to achieve our aims and objectives.

“We have to ensure that we keep up on our infrastructure whether it is road paving or tree trimming, we need to ensure that we have an education system that works for our kids, and we need to ensure that we have housing that is accessible and affordable.”

The public education system lies in limbo between the old three-tier and new two-tier system as Crystal Caesar, the Minister of Education, froze reform plans that had been years in the making with a multimillion-dollar price tag.

The Royal Gazette has reported extensively on the challenges faced by teachers, students and parents that predate Ms Caesar’s role as minister, not least the revelation that public schools across the board are achieving below international averages in their Cambridge and IGCSE results.

Mr Hayward said: “I have three children in public education and it is not lost on me some of the concerns parents have. We need an education system that works for our kids.

“Sometimes that is about slowing down, assessing where we are and mapping out a strategy to achieve the best outcomes. We have a minister in place, it is her aim and objective to ensure we get better outcomes from our kids. The kids are at the heart of everything we do with the education system.

“If we are not servicing our kids then we are not doing any justice to our community.

“I am less reliant on the education system because I ensure that, as a parent, I do what is required at home. I do have concern in terms of kids who don’t go home to proper social environments.”

Asked whether he had considered moving his children into private school, he responded: “No, not at all.”

Mr Hayward spoke on his aim to increase Bermuda’s workforce by 8,400. He said there are two major hurdles needed to be overcome to attract Bermudians back home; to reduce the high cost of living and ensure workers have access to job opportunities.

Along with measures already in train to achieve these goals such as the work of the Cost of Living Commission and the creation of the Bermuda Jobs Connect platform, Mr Hayward suggested that recruitment fairs could be established in other countries with high numbers of Bermudians living in them.

“We have Fairmont Southampton opening up and they went overseas to London to try to attract Bermudians who are in the UK to return home with job opportunities.

“There is something special about that and we want to analyse it to determine if that model can be used for other industries as well.”

He said the 8,400 goal would remain active until the next Census was completed, at which point it would be re-evaluated.

He also acknowledged that the ten-year gap between each census was lengthy and said it was his aim to have them every five years.

In February 2023, Mr Hayward told Parliament it was not his intention to remain in politics for a long time. He said that position had not changed, adding: “I have some colleagues who have been in politics for 30-plus years; that is not my intention.

“My intention is to maximise the amount of value I can provide and provide as much as I can while I am active and youthful.”

Speaking to his leadership qualities, he added: “I possess integrity and I am a strategic thinker.

“Jason Hayward is transformative, I am focused on the future, I am focused on change and I am focused on how we make that change happen.”