the Opposition.

And the party which was booted from power in a landslide General Election is united in its wish for ex-Premier Pamela Gordon to stay at the helm.

Ms Gordon formally quit as Premier in a brief meeting with Governor Thorold Masefield on Tuesday, minutes before new Premier Jennifer Smith arrived to be sworn in.

Ms Gordon left Government House without speaking to waiting reporters.

But in an interview with The Royal Gazette just before travelling to the US for a post-election break, she said she had yet to decide whether she would stay on or not.

"I have been asked to stand as the leader of the Opposition and caucus will decide on that,'' she said. "They will either contact me or discuss it with me when I get back.'' UBP to decide leadership Ms Gordon added: "This has been a long campaign and I'm very tired -- whatever way it went, I would have been going away.'' She said she would also have to travel to England at the end of the month to see lawyer daughter Veronica admitted to the Bar of England and Wales, but she was unsure if she would return to the Island before that.

Outgoing campaign committee chairman Mike Winfield said: "I think every person in the party will want her to stay, but quite frankly, it's up to her to decide.'' Mr. Winfield added: "Of all the leaders I have served, she is the most incredibly sensitive, very determined and really genuinely caring.'' He said: "There has to be some time to examine the message which was sent and what it really means.

"And there is some healing within the party and in the Country as a whole which needs to be done and that has to be gone through.

"The PLP as a Government will be given a honeymoon period and everybody has to do what they can to ensure that the Country continues to do well.'' Even as the scale of the UBP defeat became apparent, UBP supporters and the remaining MPs begged Ms Gordon to stay on.

And yesterday Grant Gibbons, who represented the Opposition at the annual Remembrance Day service, added his weight to the appeals.

Dr. Gibbons, ex-Finance Minister and the only other UBP member with all the qualifications to lead the party in Opposition, said Ms Gordon should remain in charge.

He said: "The party want her to stay on as leader. She's away off the Island thinking about her future.'' The office of leader of the Opposition is a Constitutional one and the UBP will have to fill the job as soon as possible.

Then it can begin the task of rebuilding a party shattered at the polls and which needs to restructure its approach to politics.

And the candidate who ran for the PLP in Southampton West against Ms Gordon urged her not to make a hasty decision to resign the UBP leadership.

Michael Scott said: "The Premier and I have enjoyed a cordial friendship in election contests. If she is going to have to examine her future now, either in politics generally or as a future leader of the UBP, I believe she will make a decision which best suits her.

"And of course I continue to wish her well in the years ahead. I know that Ms Gordon is a very determined woman and I'm sure that she must have a plan for the future.

"She will take that plan and she will make a success of it.''