Former Bermudan government minister joins opposition party

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – A few weeks after he resigned as the minister of the cabinet office, Vance Campbell, has joined the main opposition One Bermuda Alliance (OBA).

Campbell was among two government ministers, including attorney general and minister of legal affairs and constitutional reform, Kathy-Lynn Simmons who resigned from the David Burt administration in August.

Simmons has since quit as the parliamentary representative for the Sandys North constituency, resulting in a by-election scheduled for October 4 this year.

Speaking at a news conference, where he was flanked by the OBA leader, Jarion Richardson and other OBA members, the former government minister said that the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP), was no longer “fit to govern” the British Overseas Territory. 

“Our children are Bermuda's future. Our children must make their way in the world that we leave behind. So I entered politics because I wanted that future to be better for all our children, and I wanted to be part of a team that delivered that better future,” Campbell said, adding “in 2011, I believed that team to be the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party”.

However, he said his experiences since then have taught him differently, saying “sadly, today, in 2024, in assessing the years between 2011 and now, the conclusion that I kept coming to was that the political party that I joined many years ago, the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party, no longer presents the best option for securing a better future for Bermuda.

“I can no longer visit my constituents' homes and say to you, in all honesty, that I still have faith in the PLP. I can no longer ask you, my constituents, to support me as a PLP MP.

“In politics there are some who put their own personal agenda before our country; they place the interests of the individual before the interests of the island. That is not who I am, not at all,” he added.

But in a statement, the ruling PLP said Campbell's “decision to defect” came as “certainly a disappointment to the countless PLP volunteers” who worked in his constituency on the party's behalf during the last 2020 general election.

The PLP vowed to “continue to push back against the OBA's anti-Bermudian agenda” on immigration policy, social programmes and government services, and said it remained “focused on our mission”.

It repeated Campbell's remarks in the House of Assembly in February as legislators debated the budget, in which he came out in support of the PLP's fiscal responsibility, and hit back at the OBA's criticism of its management of the economy.

Richardson told reporters that when the House of Assembly returns on September 20, Campbell will “cross the aisle from the government benches, and sit with us, the Opposition.

“This is historic, and radically changes the political momentum and landscape of Bermuda and in Bermuda, to the benefit of all Bermudians. MP Campbell was in the Progressive Labour Party for over 13 years, serving in roles as varied as delegate and treasurer, and when the PLP won the government, MP Campbell eventually served as a Cabinet minister.

“This decision could not have been easy, and I have no doubt that this news will lead to attempts to demean, demoralise and devalue MP Campbell,” Richardson said, adding “Vance, I want you to know, we, who have faced these political bullies, will not let you stand alone”.

The OBA leader said that since the 2020 general election, the party has conducted a re-examination of its purpose, values and activities.

“We have rebuilt, forged a new organisation from the ashes of the old, clear in purpose, values and mission. We have attracted people of integrity, vision and resilience. We are ready to bring about Bermuda's renaissance.”

Campbell ran in Smith's West for the PLP in 2012, but lost to the OBA's Trevor Moniz.

He was appointed to the Senate in 2017 and became the constituency's MP in 2020 after a contest against Vic Ball, of the OBA.

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