And then there were three.

Dale Butler made his long awaited launch of his campaign to be Premier last week, adding more drama to the Progressive Labour Party leadership race.

To be sure, Mr. Butler is probably the longest shot of the field, with Terry Lister the likely runner-up to the favourite, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Paula Cox.

But his entry into the race means that Ms Cox will now be fighting on two fronts. Mr. Lister is concentrating his campaign on the economy and, by extension, Ms Cox's handling of Government finances, while Mr. Butler is highlighting the other side of the political coin with an emphasis on social issues.

Despite that, Mr. Lister and Mr. Butler, both of whom seem to be more popular in the Country generally than within the PLP grassroots, may still split their support, making Ms Cox's task easier.

It's worth remembering too that both of Ms Cox's rivals have strong Cabinet records as well, with Mr. Butler getting particular attention for his energy and effort as Minister of Social Rehabilitation.

By choosing to launch his campaign from the Salvation Army homeless shelter, Mr. Butler was treading a similarly risky path to Mr. Lister in criticising the Government's shortcomings.

Indeed, as has been noted by Opposition Leader Kim Swan, none of the candidates are running on the Government's record of the last four years; although all served in Cabinet during that time. This is most complicated for Ms Cox, since Mr. Lister and Mr. Butler both resigned on matters of principle, whereas she served throughout.

But if Mr. Lister has made several sound criticisms of the Government's economic record, and therefore of Ms Cox, Mr. Butler has targeted the other half of the governance coin – the Government's shortcomings in meeting the social needs of the public.

Nowhere was that more glaring than the replacement homeless shelter that Mr. Butler championed but which was never built.

So Mr. Butler is in effect taking for himself the mantle of champion of the poor.

Mr. Butler is also taking on several difficult and politically unpopular issue; a proposal to close some schools and turn them into social centres. Earlier this year, the idea of closing several under-populated schools was considered by the Ministry of Education and quickly abandoned in the face of protests. Give Mr. Butler credit for being brave enough to take an unpopular stand.

His fiscally prudent promise not to offer any more free programmes to the public is also likely to be unpopular. At the same time, it seems to be a deliberate repudiation of the free Bermuda College tuition, free day care and free student public transport passes that were handed out under the Brown administration and have contributed to the straitened circumstances the Government is in.

Some of Mr. Butler's other proposals were vague, and they should be fleshed out in the coming weeks.

But what is certain is that Bermuda is now engaged in an invigorating debate about the future of the Country and where it needs to go. All three candidates also recognise the need to bring the community together after the divisive politics of the Brown years, and that approach will be widely welcomed.