Former United Bermuda Party Transport Minister Erwin Adderley has decided to contest the general election as an independent candidate, while insisting he is committed to core principles of the UBP.That makes him the only declared candidate to admit to being UBP while running under a non-UBP banner.Mr Adderley will be running in Pembroke West, district 19, against Jeanne Atherden of the One Bermuda Alliance who happens to be his sister and the ruling party’s Vincent Ingham.The veteran politician made his announcement in a letter to constituents in late October which said he shared voters’ concerns about the economy and violence and had “agonised” over what his role should be.In his letter, Mr Adderley reminded the voters that last year he had been chosen to run for the UBP “which is now defunct”.“I remain committed to the principle for which it stood, in particular the core principle that ‘all persons possess a common humanity and equal rights and freedoms as set out in the Bermuda Constitution,’” the letter states.“I believe that inherent in this core principle is a duty, which falls on all of us, to develop and maintain unity, understanding and compassion for one another.”Mr Adderley, 71, told The Royal Gazette that it was inaccurate to say that he had ever retired from politics.He was first elected in 1997 in a bye-election, and kept his Pembroke West seat in the 1998 general election which saw the Progressive Labour Party sweep into power.In 2003, he was elected again and remained a Pembroke West MP until the 2007 election when he switched districts in a bid to gain a seat for the UBP.He took on then Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield in Pembroke West Central, district 18, but did not capture the seat.When Mr Adderley was named as the Pembroke West candidate for the UBP in May last year, he was on course to contest the seat in a three-way race against Shawn Crockwell of the Bermuda Democratic Alliance, and the ruling party candidate.“My interest in politics was always there,” Mr Adderley said last night.He was also totally committed to the UBP and supported Kim Swan’s injunction against winding up the party in May this year when the party had been abandoned by virtually all of its MPs and members of the executive.Mrs Atherden was one of the executive members who presided over the dismantling of the UBP.The fact that they were contesting the same seat “is not an issue for me, and I don’t see why it should be an issue for her”, Mr Adderley said, adding that he was confident that his family will remain tight-knit.Personal attacks were not part of his political repertoire, he said. “If I don’t win on persuasion and factual [arguments] then I’ve lost.”Mrs Atherden did not return our calls by press time last night.Mr Swan has decided to resurrect the UBP and plans to field candidates in its name for the coming election.But Mr Adderley says that a lack of clarity over the UBP’s legal status and its very existence is the reason why he has chosen the independent banner.“At this point, I don’t know what the UBP is doing and what they are planning to do,” he said. “I’ve asked them, but, in my opinion, it’s not clear.”He said following the withdrawal of Mr Swan’s injunction, a notice appeared in the paper dissolving the UBP. “What happened to all the bills and stuff that were accrued during the time of the UBP?” he asked.“Have they been paid? Are there still outstanding debts that whoever resurrects the party is now responsible for?“Rather than get embroiled in legal actions, I felt that at this time it would be prudent to run as an independent.”Of Mr Adderley’s description of the UBP as “defunct”, Mr Swan said: “That’s his opinion but it’s incorrect. It’s not a point I want to argue with him.”Asked his chances of success in the electoral contest, Mr Adderley said that since the UBP “does not exist” the OBA was hoping to pick up UBP votes. “The question is how does that go down?” he asked.“Who is more UBP? Me or them?”