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Bermuda - Government

Bermuda’s system of government is based on the Westminster Model of parliamentary democracy, as in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This system relies heavily upon the existence of organized political parties, each laying policies before the electorate for approval in a general election.

In Bermuda, the government comprises:

1. The Governor, who is appointed by the Queen
2. The Deputy Governor, who is appointed by the Governor
3. The Premier, who is the majority leader in the House of Assembly
4. The Cabinet, who are appointed by the Premier
5. The Legislature, made up of:
6. The House of Assembly, comprising 36 elected members from around Bermuda;
7. The Senate, comprised of 11 members appointed by the Governor (five from the governing party at the recommendation of the Premier, three from the official opposition at the recommendation of the leader of the opposition, and three as independents, chosen by the Governor)

The party who wins the most seats in a general election—or who has the support of a majority of members in the House of Assembly—forms the government. The largest minority party becomes the official opposition.

Bermuda is divided into 36 constituencies, each represented by one member in the House of Assembly. Under the Constitution, a Boundaries Commission is appointed every seven years to examine and, if necessary, to revise the boundaries of these 36 constituencies.

Since 1685, at which time the charter of the company expired, and the proprietory form of government ceased, Bermuda has been a crown colony. The government is administered by a governor, council and house of assembly. The present house of assembly is an elected body of thirty-six members. Bermuda is divided into nine tribes or parishes, from each of which four representatives were sent to the assembly.

James Henry Stark wrote in 1900 "The opinions of an impecunious man are regarded as politically worthless, and he is not therefore entitled to the ballot, until he owns real estate worth £60. If he aspires to be an assemblyman he must possess four times that amount in real estate. The colored people have the same civil rights as the whites, and although they outnumber the whites two to one, yet there are not one-third as many colored voters as white. It is the property qualification in the Bermudian form of government that is most admired by American visitors, that come from states that are under Ring and Boss rule, the result of universal suffrage."

The first election to be held with the new constitutional framework took place on 14th June 1968, effectively taking Bermuda from a representative to responsible form of Government and transferring most of the Governor's former executive function to the Executive Council, which was now headed by the person commanding the support of the majority of the elected Members of the House of Assembly. That individual, referred to as the Government Leader (a designation which in later years was changed to Premier) chose the other Members of the Executive Council (subsequently called Ministers) from party representatives within the Legislature. Thus, the Council (known today as the Cabinet) assumed responsibility for the administration of the internal affairs of Bermuda, while the Governor, in a truncated role, retained, control of external affairs, defence, internal security and the police, matters on which he was and still is, constitutionally obliged to consult with the Government of the day.

Until the General Election of 2003, there were forty Members elected to the House of Assembly, representing the twenty dual-seat constituencies into which Bermuda's nine Parishes were divided. As a result of a 2001 Order-in-Council and a subsequent 2002 Constitutional amendment, Bermuda now has thirty-six single seat constituencies, which closely approximate an equable voter distribution.

All 36 members of the House of Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage. Once the House of Assembly has been elected, the group elects a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker and sits for a term of five years, unless dissolved earlier.

In Bermuda's election held on 24 July 2003, the Progressive Labour Party won a second term as Government, with a total of twenty-two seats in the House of Assembly compared with fourteen seats won by the United Bermuda Party.

There are eight districts which either changed hands in the next two elections or were won by fewer than 50 votes - December 2007 – PLP (22 seats); UBP (14 seats) and December 2012 - OBA (19 seats); PLP (17 seats). Conventional wisdom said these were the key marginal constituencies. But it should also be noted that changes to the constituency boundaries had, in some cases, radically altered the electoral map since the landmark reforms which ushered in single seat constituencies in 2003.

This system relies heavily upon the existence of organised political parties, each laying policies before the electorate for approval. The party that wins the most seats at a general election, or who has the support of a majority of members in the House of Assembly, forms the Government. In accordance with the Bermuda Constitution, the leader of the majority party is asked by the Governor to form a Government (i.e. a Cabinet).

The largest minority party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and “Shadow Cabinet”. Presently the House of Assembly has the nine ‘Executive Arm’ or Cabinet Ministers, the last member is a representative of the Senate.

The Premier, along with eleven other elected Progressive Labour Party members of Parliament, comprise the Cabinet, the Executive arm of government; which under the Westminster principle of collective responsibility, makes most of the major decisions on how the country is run.

The Senate is comprised of 11 members appointed by His Excellency the Governor. Five members of Senate are appointed on the recommendation of the Premier and represent the governing party. Three members are appointed on the recommendation of the Leader of the Opposition and represent the official opposition party. And the three remaining Senators are appointed as Independents. A President and a Vice-President are elected by the full Senate from among the Independent Senators. When Parliament is in session, the Senate meets at 10.00 a.m. each Wednesday to discuss matters sent forward by the House of Assembly.