Jarion Richardson, the Leader of the Opposition, announced that he would step down from his post, sparking the search for his successor.

Mr Richardson, who had served as the leader of the One Bermuda Alliance since August 2023, told The Royal Gazette that he would formally leave the role at the party’s annual meeting, which was held in September.

However, he said he would continue to serve as the MP for Paget West.

Mr Richardson added: “Leadership is not a reward; it is a commitment, an action and a responsibility. And I’m happy and proud to have served in those ways.

“This resignation is a deliberate handover, giving an aspiring new leadership team the time to form and build on what I built, and what was built before me.”

He said later: “As exhausting of a journey as it was, it was a worthwhile journey. I’m honoured and I’m privileged to have done it.”

Mr Richardson said that he made the decision to leave the role after a post-mortem of the Bermuda Budget was completed, stating that his responsibilities meant he had less time for other commitments, including his family and work.

He said: “I want to get back to those priorities — most especially in my family, but also in my career.

“I wanted to make sure that I left leading the next leadership team with optimism and strength — and this feels like the right time to do that.”

Mr Richardson joined the OBA as a senator in February 2020 and became an MP for Paget West in the October 2020 General Election.

He was named the acting leader of the party in August 2023 in the wake of the resignation of Cole Simons and was subsequently elected by acclamation as OBA leader in December 2023.

While Mr Richardson was able to retain his seat in the House of Assembly in the 2025 General Election, in which the OBA increased its Lower House representation by four seats, the party fell short of winning the government.

Two names were later put forward to succeed Mr Richardson: Ben Smith, the deputy leader and Shadow Minister of Education, and Robert King, the Shadow Minister of National Security, and the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation.

Mr King emerged from the AGM as the new party leader on September 6.

Concerns were also raised about the value-for-money of Belco’s multimillion-dollar North Power Station project because of its tendering process.

Documents released through a Pati request revealed that Belco had carried out a tendering process in 2011 and chose the firm Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor.

However, the project did not proceed at that time. When it was restarted in 2017, Belco asked the same firm for an updated price point without fresh bids from other power producers that might have offered a more competitive price.

Oxera, a British-based economics and finance consultancy used by the Regulatory Authority to assess the proposal by Belco, said the cost appeared “very high relative to other capital cost benchmarks for diesel engines”.

It added that there were “inconsistencies between Belco’s description of the purported benefits of its proposal and report as regards to the quoted costs in 2017 relative to 2011”.

Meanwhile, it was announced in the House of Assembly that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings had signed a memorandum of understanding to consider investments for the vacant Daniel’s Head site.

Zane DeSilva, the Minister of Housing and Municipalities, said the company would “assess and evaluate the possibility of investing and potentially transforming this area into a first-class day tourism product”.

However, he said that discussions were still at the early stages, and nothing had been signed off on or otherwise agreed.

He said: “What I can share is that at this stage BLMC has signed a non-binding MOU that provides six months for NCLH to complete its vision and concept with high-level financial requirements for us to consider.

“This opportunity is still in its early stages, and conceptual designs and financial models have yet to be developed.”