Bermuda’s new Governor, John Rankin, was officially sworn in at a parade in King’s Square in St George’s this morning.

After a march by Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers, a commission speech by Cabinet Secretary Derrick Binns, a prayer by the Right Reverend Nicholas Dill and an introduction by Michael Dunkley, the Premier, Mr Rankin said it was “a great honour to be appointed as Her Majesty the Queen’s representative as your Governor”.

He said he looked forward to working with Bermuda in “upholding the highest international business standards”.

The father of three also said he wanted to engage with Bermuda’s young people “who represent the future”.

Commenting on recent political discontent, he said he hoped to work with “all Bermudians” to ensure a “constructive way of going forward to deal with the issues where there is currently disagreement in Bermuda ... allowing them to resolve peacefully in line with this country’s democratic traditions”.

He added: “Those same traditions of tolerance, stability and security [I hope will] also continue to ensure that those who arrive in Bermuda are quickly made to feel welcome.”

The Premier said the new Governor had a wide range of expertise and was armed with “a quite impressive résumé”.

He also spoke of the Friday’s events, saying: “As we saw recently, even the strongest and healthiest democracies face their share of challenges. As leaders in government, in opposition and in Government House, we should all feel very hurt and saddened about what happened last Friday at the House of Assembly with Members of Parliament not being allowed to access to conduct the people’s business ... injured citizens, police using pepper spray.

“These are very disturbing images for anyone to see. Our first priority should be the safety and wellbeing of the people we serve. As these are very challenging times, we must be mindful that we still are one people.”

He said going forward, his government would seek to come together to create a “prosperous, unified and proud Bermuda”.