The decision by Mark Pettingill to step down as Attorney General after 17 months in the role came three days after former Premier Craig Cannonier also resigned from office.

However, Mr Pettingill’s decision reportedly stemmed from his new position at Clarien Bank, rather than the “Jetgate” controversy cited by the ex-Premier in his resignation speech on Monday.

The 40-year-old resident of Farmer’s Lane, Warwick continues to represent constituency 25, Warwick North East, as a back bencher.

One of the core members of the One Bermuda Alliance Government, Mr Pettingill embarked into politics in November 1998 as an Opposition Senator for the United Bermuda Party.

Previously, he worked in the Attorney General’s office as Crown counsel before setting out as a defence lawyer, at Wakefield Quin and later at Charter Chambers.

He served in the Senate until 2002, and ran subsequently as a UBP candidate in Warwick North East. In the 2003 General Election it was a close-fought battle for the seat, however the Progressive Labour Party’s Dale Butler won with 437 votes to Mr Pettingill’s 399.

That same year, Mr Pettingill threw his hat in the ring for the post of Director of Public Prosecutions, but withdrew his bid over political pressure, saying he hadn’t been given “across the board support”.

Mr Pettingill won the Warwick West seat for the UBP in 2007. He has maintained a friendly relationship with Mr Butler, whom he defeated for Warwick North East in the 2012 One Bermuda Alliance victory.

Mr Pettingill’s prominence in the OBA can be traced back to 2009, when he broke from the UBP along with Shawn Crockwell and Donte Hunt, to become the first MPs for the new Bermuda Democratic Alliance.

He served as spokesman for Public Safety in the BDA, which merged with the UBP in 2011 to become the One Bermuda Alliance.

He was initially the OBA’s Shadow Public Works Minister, but he took up his position as Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister when the new OBA Cabinet was sworn in on December 20, 2012.

Under the terms of office he had to give up his job as a lawyer.

As AG, Mr Pettingill championed the creation of a mental health court, plus an open debate on cannabis policy.

He steered landmark changes to the Human Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation, and had to apologise for denigrating religious opponents to the amendments during a spirited debate in the House of Assembly.

From early in the job, Mr Pettingill backed creating a code of conduct for Ministers and MPs.

That same code of conduct was cited in May 2013, when the story broke of Mr Pettingill’s trip to Washington DC with Mr Cannonier and Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell.

The three flew on the private jet of US developer Nathan Landow for meetings with investors, with the group also paying for their accommodation — a junket promptly branded “Jetgate” by the PLP.

Mr Cannonier subsequently told the House of Assembly that the AG had reassured him that their trip didn’t break the rules. That began the first round of Opposition calls for Mr Pettingill to step down, in June of last year.

To the end, the AG maintained no rules had been broken, telling The Royal Gazette he had run it by a contact in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Yesterday, Mr Pettingill stepped down to take up his new job, with Trevor Moniz replacing him as AG.