Breakaway ex-Progressive Labour Party stalwart Kenny Bascome yesterday staked his claim to a seat in Parliament for St. George's North as an Independent candidate.

And -- despite peace offerings from the PLP said to include the carrot of a Senate seat -- Mr. Bascome has pushed ahead and handed in nomination papers for the constituency swept in 1993 by the Progressive Labour Party.

Mr. Bascome, who last week said he would not consent to any interviews by Royal Gazette reporters for personal reasons, did not returns calls yesterday.

But Mr. Bascome's bid muddies the waters in St. George's North, captured in 1993 by his former Leader Jennifer Smith and the late Leon (Jimmy) Williams.

Mr. Williams' replacement, former Finance Ministry official Delaey Robinson, does not enjoy the advantage normally enjoyed by an incumbent.

And Mr. Bascome's bid could upset the apple cart for the PLP, allowing golf pro and United Bermuda Party candidate Kim Swan to drive straight up the middle.

But Mr. Bascome's challenge was the only real surprise as a total of 82 prospective MPs put themselves forward on the official nomination day -- seven fewer than in the 1993 General Election.

The UBP is putting up a full slate of 40 candidates, with the PLP putting up 34, two down on the last General Election.

PLP chiefs would have fielded 35 candidates, but opted not to replace Rodney Smith in Pembroke West after he quit the race.

Mr. Smith stood down following embarrassment over the eviction of a tenant amid a political row over housing problems in Bermuda.

But the shortfall is largely explained by the National Liberal Party putting up half the number of candidates they did at the last General Election -- four instead of eight.

Go-it-alone candidates running as Independents total only four candidates this time, compared to five in 1993.

That includes two disillusioned PLP members, Philip Perinchief, who ran for the party in 1993, and Mr. Bascome, a party stalwart in St. George's until a major row broke out over his failure to be selected as Ms Smith's running mate.

Women, however, are better represented than ever before, with 15 candidates up for election compared to the previous record, 13 in 1993.

There are eight female UBP candidates, six PLP and one standing for the NLP.

That breaks down to a total of 14.6 percent of all candidates in 1993 against 18.2 percent for the 1998 clash.

It is also the first time both main parties, the United Bermuda Party and the Progressive Labour Party, have gone to the Country behind women leaders.

But women are still dramatically under-represented considering the majority ofthe electorate, 53 percent, are women.

Election Focus: Page 3 The nominations: Page 6 Bascome challenges Smith Race -- as in 1993 -- is likely to play a major factor in this year's election.

The United Bermuda Party is running 24 black candidates and 16 white would-be MPs.

The PLP are fielding 32 black candidates and two white hopefuls, while the NLP are running three black prospective MPs and one white. All four Independents are black.

The two constituencies with the largest number of candidates are St. George's North and Devonshire North, with six each.

St. George's North has two PLP, two UBP and two Independent candidates, while Devonshire North has two PLP, two UBP and two NLP candidates.