United Bermuda Party
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The United Bermuda Party is a moderate political party in Bermuda. The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was founded in 1964 by 24 members of Bermuda's Parliament. Sir Henry Tucker was the leader of the new party. The UBP supports a socially moderate and fiscally conservative agenda.
In 1968 the UBP formed the first Government under Bermuda’s new Constitution and universal adult suffrage, winning 30 of the 40 seats. Sir Henry Tucker was appointed Bermuda’s first Government Leader.
The UBP remained in power until 1998 when it lost the general election that year to the Progressive Labour Party (PLP). Wayne Furbert was unanimously selected as leader of the UBP in January 2006.
Issue of Bermuda's Independence
The issue of Bermuda's independence has caused problems for the UBP. Sir John Swan was the Premier of Bermuda from 1982-1995 and the leader of the UBP. In 1995 a referendum was held on the issue of Bermuda's independence. It was soundly defeated. Premier Swan had promised to resign if the measure was defeated as a sign of his support for the issue. He kept his promise and resigned in the wake of the referendum's defeat. The fact the UBP was divided on the referendum contributed to its defeat.
The issue of independence was revived in 2004 by Premier Alex Scott of the PLP, who appointed the Bermuda Independence Commission to study the issues surrounding nationhood for the island. The Commission worked closely with the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, but was accused of presenting a biased viewpoint when contributions from significant community groups where omitted from its report. Opinion polls in 2005 showed that public support for independence remained low amongst the Bermuda community.
UBP's Historical Performance in Elections
From 1964 until 1998 the UBP had a string of 8 straight electoral victories. The UBP had 30 seats in Parliament as result of the election of 1968. The 1970's saw the UBP majority in Parliament decrease as the PLP gained seats. The elections of 1983 and 1985 saw this trend stopped as the UBP gained seats in Parliament but in 1989 the PLP again decreased the UBP's majority in Parliament. By 1993 the UBP only had 22 seats in Parliament. In 1998 the PLP finally defeated the UBP. This marked the first time in over 30 years that the UBP was not in power. At the last elections (24 July 2003), the party won 48.0% of popular votes and 14 out of 36 seats.
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