One Bermuda Alliance

The One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) is one of two political parties in Bermuda. At the 18 July 2017 general election, the party won 12 of the 36 seats in the Bermudian House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Bermuda, and is currently the official opposition. The party is a result of a May 2011 merger of most members of Bermuda's two main non-Labour parties, the United Bermuda Party and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance. Since October 2018, the leader of the party has been Craig Cannonier.[1]

One Bermuda Alliance
LeaderCraig Cannonier[1]
Founded17 May 2011
Preceded byUnited Bermuda Party
Bermuda Democratic Alliance
HeadquartersReid Street,
Hamilton, Bermuda
IdeologyLiberal conservatism
Political positionCentre-right[2]
UK affiliationnone
Senate
3 / 11
Assembly
12 / 36
Website
http://www.oba.bm

History

The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was founded in 1964 and won every Bermuda election until 1998, when it lost to the Progressive Labour Party. The UBP remained the official opposition party until 2011.

The Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) was formed in 2009 by breakaway members of the UBP that believed only a new party could win voters from the PLP. It contested one by-election in December 2010, coming in third behind the PLP and UBP, with the PLP retaining about the same support level that it had in the 2007 general election.[3] Concern that vote-splitting among the two non-Labour parties would result in an easy victory for the PLP prompted the BDA and UBP to enter merger talks.

The initial intention of UBP and BDA negotiators was to formally merge the two parties,[4] but when UBP leader Kim Swan sought an injunction to block the merger, seven sitting MPs of the UBP quit their former party and joined the three BDA members to become Bermuda's new official opposition on May 17, 2011.[5]

The party held its inaugural leadership convention on 10 September 2011, where the former BDA leader, Senator Craig Cannonier, narrowly won the party leadership over challenger Everard T. (Bob) Richards.[6] The party won the 2012 elections, taking 19 of the 36 seats in the House of Assembly.[7]

Cannonier resigned party leadership on 19 May 2014,[8] and Michael Dunkley became party leader and Premier. The party lost its parliamentary majority in March 2017 after two members left the party to become independents, and Dunkley called an election for 18 July 2017. The party lost 7 seats to the PLP, retaining 12 of the 36 seats, and prompting Dunkley to resign as party leader the following day.[9]

Policies

The party's initial slogan was "Putting Bermuda First." Its policies on its foundation included:

  • balancing the budget in its first term
  • cutting Ministerial pay by at least 10%
  • allocating more government contracts to small business
  • additional resources for police
  • introducing a fully integrated technical curriculum and a longer school day
  • having fixed term elections, right to petition for referendums and recall of MPs.

Party leaders
Leader Entered office Left office
John Barritt (interim)May 2011September 2011
Craig CannonierSeptember 2011May 2014
Michael DunkleyMay 2014July 2017
Patricia Gordon-Pamplin (interim)July 2017November 2017
Jeanne Atherden[1]November 2017September 2018

Election results
General election # of candidates # of elected candidates total votes % of popular vote
2012 36 19 15,949 51.7%
2017 36 12 13,832 40.61%
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References
  1. {{Cite web|url=http://bernews.com/2018/09/opposition-leader-to-be-sworn-in-today/
  2. "Risks to government continuity persist".
  3. Bermuda Sun, 15 December 2010.
  4. "UBP agrees to merge with BDA | The Royal Gazette:Bermuda Politics".
  5. "Mass resignation by UBP MPs". bermudasun.bm.
  6. "Cannonier beats Richards by a whisker in OBA leadership election". bermudasun.bm.
  7. "Election Map", Royal Gazette, 17 December 2012.
  8. "Live Blog: Michael Dunkley Has Been Sworn In". May 20, 2014.
  9. Royal Gazette, 19 July 2017, Dunkley resigns as OBA leader
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