1834 and elected its first black Member of Parliament in 1883. Portuguese labourers began to be brought in on contracts in 1849 and continue to arrive today from the Azores. The first ethnic Portuguese MP was only elected in 1963. By 1950 a numerical majority of voters were black although with the property vote of those days, the minority white voters may have possessed more overall votes as some voters were able to vote in
why the subject is always present, even when it is clear that the public is substantially and consistently opposed to independence. The UBP has always had a greater diversity of views on the subject but agree internally that it is a matter of conscience for the people of Bermuda to decide by referendum. So far Bermudians agree that a referendum is the preferred method.
Between 1968 and until 1998
armed robberies and murders took place, including the Police Commissioner, the Governor and his aide-de-camp. Two individuals were later tried, convicted and executed in 1977. In the same year, Sir John Sharpe, the then Premier, tabled in the House of Assembly a green paper entitled, Independence for Bermuda, A Discussion Paper. This was in fulfilment of a promise in the Throne Speech of November 1976
It is clear that independence offers no solutions for the various social and political ills that face Bermuda nor does it offer any advantages.
more than one parish. Universal adult suffrage was introduced in 1968 and by 1976 the majority of MPs were black. After the election of 2007, 31 of 36 MPs were black. Two of the five white MPs are of Portuguese ethnicity.
Party politics
Bermuda has two political parties: there is the largely black Progressive Labour Party (PLP) formed in 1963 and the more conservative and also more diverse, United Bermuda party (UBP) formed the following year. The PLP has always had independence for Bermuda as one of the
fundamental planks of its platform, and has also favoured making a decision on independence in a general election. It is one reason
the UBP won all the general elections. This was partly because the PLP split before the 1968 election spawning the short-lived Bermuda Democratic Party. The PLP again split before the 1985 election spawning the National Liberal Party which gradually faded away. On each occasion it was the more moderate members of the PLP who were forced out. Although Bermuda is generally a peaceful and conservative society there has been a radical element. In the 1960s a group formed called the Black Beret Cadre in imitation of the Black Panthers in the United States. There was frustration after the PLP losses in 1968 and 1972 at the speed of social and political change. In 1972 a number of
30 | The Parliamentarian | 2009: Issue One - Bermuda
Title page: Sunset overlooking Bermuda; Above: Hamilton city centre.
and was later followed in November 1979 by the tabling of a White Paper.
Nothing of substance occurred after the debating of the above items. The PLP fared well in the election of 1980 but fell back in 1983 when the UBP had a charismatic new Leader, John Swan. The PLP were further staggered in the1985 snap election after the second split but they regained seats in 1989 and only lost by a narrow margin in 1993. Sir John Swan realized that his leadership had lost its lustre and, being a supporter of