Politics of Bermuda
[1] The original form of local government that developed was similar to that of a County in England and Wales, with a number of prominent men appointed to key roles, such as the judiciary, Secretary, and Sherriff.
The Governor was also appointed to fill the role performed in counties of England and Wales by the Lord-Lieutenant, in command of the local Militia (there being no standing English Army at that time), with this office titled Commander-in-Chief or Captain-General.
Voting was originally restricted to males, but (unlike the franchise for the national House of Commons) there was no property qualification as virtually all private land in Bermuda belonged to absentees until the 1630s, when the falling profits of Bermudian tobacco led many of the Company's adventurers to sell their landholdings, usually to the agents or tenants who occupied them (a property qualification would ultimately be introduced to minimise the number of coloured and poor white islanders who could vote).
When the numbers of non-white landowners began to increase, a minimum value was established for the properties which entitled their owners to vote.
The Governor appoints a number of senior government positions, including the puisne judges, police commissioner, the auditor general and the parliamentary registrar.
Its jurisdiction includes: adjudicating on small claims in civil matters, dealing with a number of regulatory applications, trial of summary criminal offences and serving as examining justices on indictable matters (that is, determining if there is sufficient evidence to commit a criminal suspect for trial on indictment in the Supreme Court).
Until the late 20th century, the parishes maintained their own community councils responsible for such functions as birth records.
In 1965, the two-party system was launched with the formation of the United Bermuda Party (UBP), which had the support of the majority of white voters and of some blacks.
Bermuda's first election held on the basis of universal adult suffrage and equal voting took place on 22 May 1968; previously, the franchise had been limited to property owners and those above the age of 21.
The PLP would succeed gaining a second term in July 2003, although by a reduced majority of 52% margin of the popular vote and 22 seats in a new 36-seat Assembly.
In December 2007, after an October 2006 party leadership change in which Ewart F. Brown, Jr. became Premier, the PLP gained a third term by maintaining a 52% margin of the popular vote and 22 out of 36 seats in the Assembly.
Unsatisfied aspirations, particularly among young blacks, led to a brief civil disturbance in December 1977, following the execution of two men found guilty of the 1972–73 assassinations of Governor Sir Richard Sharples and four others.
Bermuda's positive experience with internal self-government has led to discussions of possible complete independence by both parties.
The PLP stated that the unwillingness of the UBP government to put forward a plan of substantive constitutional reform made it impossible for it to support the referendum.
Again, in 2001, she made the following statement: "As I have stated repeatedly, consistently and unequivocally since assuming the leadership of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party, I shall state once again for the record – independence is not an issue that we will address in our first term and probably not in our second term....We believe that there are a number of areas that need addressing before Bermuda heads down this road."
Under the leadership of Smith, the Government of Bermuda began to systematically address the issues that it believes are fundamental prerequisites for independence.
In 2001, the government began taking steps to amend Bermuda's constitution in order to abolish the island's system of parish-based, dual-seat constituencies which favored voters in parishes of small, predominantly white populations.
The governor then submitted the commission's report to the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, together with the views of the House of Assembly.
The possibility of independence has relevance to newly enacted UK legislation entitling citizens of Britain's Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, to British citizenship.
There are no conditions attached to the granting of British citizenship to the Overseas Territories, a fact of particular importance to Bermuda where the issue of independence lies dormant.
