One Bermuda Alliance
Encyclopedia
| One Bermuda Alliance | |
|---|---|
| Party Leader | Sen. Craig Cannonier |
| Founded | 17 May 2011 |
| Headquarters | Reid Street, Hamilton, Bermuda |
| Website | http://www.oba.bm |
The One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) is a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. It is a result of a May 2011 merger of most members of Bermuda's two main opposition parties, the United Bermuda Party
United Bermuda Party
The United Bermuda Party was a political party in Bermuda. It represented itself as centrist party in favor of a moderate social and fiscal agenda...
and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance
Bermuda Democratic Alliance
The Bermuda Democratic Alliance is a former political party in Bermuda which lasted from its foundation in November 2009 until its merger into the One Bermuda Alliance in May 2011.- History :...
.
History
The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was founded in 1964 and won every Bermuda election until 1998 when it lost to the Progressive Labour PartyProgressive Labour Party (Bermuda)
The Progressive Labour Party is a political party in Bermuda. It has been in power since 1998, winning subsequent elections in 2003 and 2007.- Formation :...
. It remained the official opposition party until 2011.
The Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) was formed in 2009 by breakaway members of the UBP that believed that only a new party could win support from the PLP. It contested one by-election in December 2010, placing third behind the PLP and UBP, with the PLP retaining about the same support level that it had in the 2007 general election. Concern that vote-splitting among the two opposition parties would result in an easy victory for the governing 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, 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.
The party held its inaugural leadership convention on September 10, 2011, where the former BDA leader, Senator Craig Cannonier, narrowly won the party leadership over challenger Everard T. (Bob) Richards, the party's shadow finance minister.
Everard T. (Bob) Richards, have made several unsuccessful attempts to become leader of the UBP and the now UBP/OBA, with no success.
Policies
The party's slogan is "Putting Bermuda First." Its policies include:- balancing the budget in its first term
- cutting Ministerial pay by at least 10%
- allocating more government contracts to small business
- additional reasources for police
- introducing a fully integrated technical curriculum and a longer school day
- having fixed term elections, right to petition for referendums and recallRecall electionA recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
of MPs
Party Leaders
| Entered office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|
| John Barritt (interim) | May 2011 | September 2011 |
| Craig Cannonier | September 2011 |