Raised in Pembroke within a politically vibrant, working-class family, economy and labour minister Jason Hayward believes the values that led him to serve and that shaped his approach to leadership were developed in his early years.

The labour union stalwart, who is to run against Curtis Dickinson in the upcoming Progressive Labour Party leadership contest, is widely seen as a politician who will remain faithful to the party’s core membership and will continue the legacy of his publicly “neutral” mentor David Burt, the Premier.

Mr Hayward’s campaign magazine, titled Building Together, Ready to Lead, sends a message to delegates that he “represents the PLP’s DNA”.

Entrenched in the party’s founding principles of social and economic justice, universal human and labour rights, and institutional and democratic reform, and with family roots linked to the party’s beginnings, he simply bleeds green.

As a union man, he is known as a “firebrand” who doesn’t shy away from confrontation or controversy. He has even put his professional career on the line to stand up against projects such as furlough days, Pathways to Status and the airport redevelopment.

Mr Hayward, 44, has often been a vocal opponent of the One Bermuda Alliance and was one of the three founders of the People’s Campaign for Equality, Jobs and Justice, inspired by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. It was born, under OBA rule, out of a growing “frustration and mistrust” of the island’s politics.

However, Mr Hayward is rarely seen to call out his own party with the same vigour. He did express outrage against Belco when pollution directly affected residents in his constituency of Pembroke Central, and called on the PLP government to take action.

His work as Minister of Economy and Labour has been championed by Mr Burt who, when defending him for his “I don’t want your vote,” comment in Parliament to certain members of the electorate, described him as “one of the hardest-working ministers” he had ever served with.

The OBA, especially shadow finance minister Douglas De Couto, has been less fulsome, saying Bermuda’s prosperity is buoyed by international business while the local economy continues to struggle.

While his leadership rival also comes from a labour family, there is no denying the edge Mr Hayward has over Mr Dickinson within the movement which will be a big draw for the party’s traditional labour roots.

Mr Hayward served as the first elected full-time president of the Bermuda Public Services Union from 2014 to 2019 and was also president of the Bermuda Trade Union Congress.

His labour links have formed a critical part of his political career and now his leadership campaign. He told delegates he will ensure that “the voice of the worker remains at the centre of every decision made in the Cabinet” and he recently hosted a “Night of Unity” for the island’s major union organisations.

Chris Furbert, the president of the Bermuda Industrial Union, said Mr Hayward’s background in labour and his ministerial position made him best equipped to lead the country.

“I know he is about the people of Bermuda. I can be certain he will have the interest of labour and the people at the forefront,” Mr Furbert said.

“In his position as the Minister of Economy and Labour, he has attended several important overseas events on behalf of the Government. I believe this has helped to prepare him to become leader.”

Lloyquita Symonds, the assistant general secretary and former president of the BPSU, said that Mr Hayward left the union stronger than when he joined it.

She said it was previously known as the “passive” union, but under his presidency, it stood up “boldly”, publishing position papers on issues affecting its members and becoming “the largest and one of the most progressive unions in this country”.

However, one party insider highlighted how Mr Hayward fell out of favour with some in the unions, most vocally Mr Furbert, when passing legislation permitting non-union members in a bargaining unit to vote on whether a group of employees should be unionised.

“It did not make him very popular in the movement,” the insider said. Mr Hayward stood firm at the time, saying the BIU was taking a “self-interest position”.

The insider added: “He has certainly come a long way politically from when he was at the BPSU, but still has a very long way to go.

“Going abroad to a few economic summits does not make you a subject expert. It will take more.

“He is a work in progress for many of the more seasoned and astute political types.”

While Mr Hayward may have strong labour support, and is armed with economic policy expertise, there is a perception that Mr Dickinson, with his global banking experience and work as finance minister refinancing Bermuda’s debt, is better qualified to set the island on a pathway to economic success.

Mr Hayward holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Nova Southeastern University, a Bachelor of Business Administration from Mount Saint Vincent University and an associate’s degree in arts and science from the Bermuda College.

The former statistician also completed executive and professional programmes and holds a Chartered Manager Designation.

His economic agenda calls for “diversification, greater Bermudian ownership and entrepreneurship, future-ready skills and technology and inclusive prosperity”.

He says his experience has equipped him with “the analytical expertise to strengthen Bermuda’s economy and safeguard its fiscal future”.

He was also a director and treasurer of the Bermuda Credit Union, a former chairman of the National Training Board and chaired the working group that produced Bermuda’s first National Workforce Development Plan.

Mr Hayward has travelled overseas with the Premier with the goal of deepening relations with the United Arab Emirates and has actively championed Bermuda’s engagement with the African continent.

Michael Dunkley, who was premier under the OBA government from 2014 to 2017, said: “Jason Hayward is hard-working and diligent, has significant public sector experience and can at times be a firebrand. He’s a party insider and is hardcore PLP.”

Alex Scott, who served as premier for the PLP government from 2003 to 2006, said while the labour movement remained relevant in Bermuda, times had changed since his leadership.

Mr Scott added: “Jason administered to the civil servants’ union and did a good job of it. You have to adjudicate on issues that everyone feels they are an expert on and to be able to do that for many years is tough.”

A fire in the belly has occasionally landed Mr Hayward in trouble — he had to issue an apology in a defamation case brought by former finance minister Bob Richards over his comments on the air related to the airport redevelopment.

He was also in court following the related December 2, 2016 protests for blocking Parliament and obstructing police. The case was eventually dropped against him and about 20 other protesters.

Mr Hayward faced criticism after wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “union thug” but the minister brushed it off as ironic.

He chose to address accusations against him of domestic abuse head-on in Parliament, saying the comments were “unsubstantiated” and “malicious”.

One prominent Bermuda politician, who wished to remain unnamed, said they didn’t believe Mr Hayward was ready to lead the country. The source said: “The political challenge is that Jason doesn’t have the temperament or the ability to lead Bermuda to where it needs to go.

“We need someone who can take us into the future, and the labour movement is over. He is sitting in the past but it appeals to the core of the PLP. For those who want progress, it won’t work out.

“People are moving faster than politics. The politics of the country is so far behind. We are advanced in so many ways and change is instantaneous when it comes to technology and business.

“Politics takes a long time to move. That is the frustration with democracy — it is not delivering on its promise until years later.”

One younger supporter, Eron Hill, the executive director of the Bermuda Equal Justice Initiative, said Mr Hayward served as a role model for him and other younger Bermudians. Mr Hill, 30, said: “Jason Hayward best embodies the PLP’s founding commitment to social justice, equality and the advancement of working Bermudians.

“His labour roots and work to introduce Bermuda’s first minimum wage give those principles practical substance.

“I admire his ability to relate to the lay person while navigating the complex demands of corporate Bermuda, all while remaining humble, receptive to the ideas of others and uncompromising in his pursuit of improving the lives of Bermudians,” Mr Hill said.

Former PLP MP Rolfe Commissiong, who tabled a livable wage motion in 2016, said the minimum wage legislation introduced in 2023 was long overdue and clubbed Mr Burt, Mr Dickinson and Mr Hayward together with “growing numbers” in the party who were “conservative, not so progressive or pro-labour”.

A father of three who is cousin to the late trailblazer Dame Lois Browne-Evans and PLP MP Christopher Famous, Mr Hayward was brought up in the Parson’s Road and Mount Hill neighbourhoods.

One of his biggest influences was his mother, Phyllis Hayward, who worked as a nurse and instilled in him the importance of caring not only for family members but for the whole community.

Mr Hayward, who attended West Pembroke Primary School and later The Berkeley Institute, told the The Royal Gazette: “If someone needed somewhere to stay or needed a helping hand, my mother made room for them.”

Most important to him were family, community, school and sport.

“Looking back, many of the values that guide me today were developed during those early years.”

As a young man, Mr Hayward represented Bermuda on the Under-15 and Under-17 national football teams. His sense of collective responsibility was nurtured during these games. He said the sport taught him that “sometimes things don't go your way, but you still have to keep working and support the team”.

He is also a dedicated supporter of North Village Community Club. Sherwin Dill, the former president of the club, said during a campaign event: “He has that courage to fight the good fight.”

As a young boy, he picked up the nickname “Church” as he attended Sunday School which was mandatory in his grandmother’s house.

The PLP is often accused through public commentary of taking care of “friends and family” first and foremost.

A separate party insider questioned the motives of some in the party, saying: “There are MPs waiting in the wings who believe that with a Jason Hayward administration, they will finally be able to be ministers and get what their loyalty deserves.”

Another party insider described Mr Hayward as a “David Burt surrogate”.

“Curtis Dickinson is more of his own man,” the source said, adding that he expected Mr Hayward to make Mr Burt the Minister of Finance in his Cabinet despite the Premier saying he would retire to the back bench.

“It’s the only reason he is remaining in the MP ranks at all.”

Mr Hayward started in politics in the “trenches of the party hierarchy” as a central committee representative before being appointed to the Senate and serving as a junior minister in 2017 when the PLP returned to power.

He was elected as an MP in a 2019 by-election following the death of Walton Brown and became labour minister in 2020 as part of a Cabinet reshuffle.

Controversy surrounded the selection after an e-mail addressed to the party chairman and candidates sub-committee member said 65 per cent of branch members voted against Mr Hayward and that a motion to field Jamaine Smith had been ignored by Mr Burt.

In his own words, Mr Hayward said his vision was for a united party that “unlocks the value of its members, empowers young members and remains firmly rooted in the principles of social and economic empowerment”.

He was slow to publicly comment about the PLP membership row that has plunged the leadership campaign into turmoil and the comments he did deliver called for unity over division.

Mr Hayward announced his candidacy for the PLP leadership in February during the party’s Founders Day celebration at CedarBridge Academy, with the full support of Zane DeSilva, the Deputy Premier.

In an interview with the Gazette shortly after, Mr Hayward said his motivation came after political colleagues and party members had encouraged him to step forward. He said that one of his main mentors had been Mr Burt.

Mr Hayward said then: “He has been an excellent person to shadow and to watch. He has drive and motivation. I have been very close to him.”