The UBP was plunged into a major crisis last night after its chairman quit her post claiming that a white elite still controlled the party and that blacks should not be "fooled" into thinking they could be in charge.

Gwyneth Rawlins' shock resignation and allegations of "disrespect", "underhanded schemes" and "manipulation" comes little more than a week after Shadow Minister Jamahl Simmons left the party amid claims of a racist clique which sought to oust him.

Her decision suggests the Opposition could be on the brink of implosion, with one critic suggesting yesterday that the party was "in its very last days".

Ms Rawlins resigned as chairman and as a party member at a central executive committee meeting at about 5.30 p.m.

The 57-year-old was re-elected for her fourth term as chairman only a month ago but revealed last night that a "core group" had sought, secretively and unsuccessfully, to get another candidate to stand against her.

She issued a lengthy statement just after 6 p.m. which hit out at that "group of people who are committed to maintaining control" and said she had become increasingly uncomfortable in an environment where she was shown disrespect and was unable to grow politically. Her most scathing remarks were on the issue of race in the United Bermuda Party.

"A few more blacks have joined the party and are set to contest seats in the upcoming General Election," she said.

"I question whether the action of bringing in additional black candidates is more to darken the external landscape rather than embracing and utilising the talents and skills of everyone who make up a diversified group.

"If blacks are not willing to play the game and adopt the rhetoric they will eventually struggle with their own sense of value and what is the right and fair thing to do.

"Blacks who make it to the leadership level as I did should not be fooled into thinking that they will be in charge." Ms Rawlins, later speaking exclusively to The Royal Gazette, said she had just come through a "really tough moment". She said: "This is a decision I had to make. It was made by me and me alone. There comes a time when you have to just get in a quiet place and seek God on some things."

In her statement she said that previous and current leadership of the party had shown "blatant disrespect" to her and her position.

"There are countless examples of this occurring over the years, in addition to being undermined in the presence of others and excluded from dialogue and decision making."

Ms Rawlins, who joined the UBP in 1998, told this newspaper she was subject to disrespect and disregard from the beginning of her time with the party and had finally had enough.

She would not name those who had treated her badly saying only that "there is still a group of whites who seemingly have enjoyed control all this time and want to maintain it".

She said she had reliable information that a clique sought to oust her. Asked if her decision to resign was due to racism within the party, she said: "I'm going to defer answering that question."

Mr. Simmons applauded her decision to quit and praised her courage in speaking out. The UBP's former spokesman on race and economic opportunity said he was accused of lying when he claimed racism was still inherent in the party.

"People need to ask themselves the question, with this revelation, who is lying now," he said. "What Gwyneth has done has taken a great deal of courage and integrity and I think one of the things that Nelson Mandela says is that personal bravery inspires bravery in others. I hope this will inspire others to tell the truth."

Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert could not be contacted for comment last night and nor could any of the party's MPs or Senators. They were understood to be holed up in a hastily-called crisis meeting to decide how to publicly respond to Ms Rawlins' announcement.

Party member and former treasurer Jim Butterfield said he believed the allegations of a white clique intent on maintaining power were "ill-founded".

"I'm very disheartened and I want to find out what is behind it," he said. "I have worked with Gwyneth before and I'll be interested in what's behind it. I have no idea why she'd resign. I'm saddened to hear that's the way it has gone."

But Julian Hall, who quit the UBP as deputy chairman in 1980 and later became a life member of the PLP, said the party was founded on white economic power. Asked if he was surprised by Ms Rawlins' comments, he said: "The only thing that surprises me is how long it has taken for progressive people of colour within the United Bermuda Party to realise that, very simply, they are being used.

"I think it's time for the UBP to either come out of the closet and be what they are, which is a party which is founded on the principle of white supremacy, or to simply fold up its tent and realise that its time is effectively over. It's really time for politics in Bermuda to be divided along ideological lines, not racial lines."

He added: "I think the United Bermuda Party, as we understand it, is in its very last days. Either they will adapt or they will perish."

Ms Rawlins, who replaced Mr. Furbert as party chairman in 2003 after serving for two years as secretary, said in her statement that she had wondered lately whether the party had really changed, in spite of its "platitudes".

She claimed it was still "stuck in the mode of yesteryear, operating through a core group that resorts to underhanded schemes".

She said: "The new United Bermuda Party has not yet been conceived, let alone born. They saw me as a nice person and a polite person but they did not anticipate my strength and resolve to do what's right and fair. They did not anticipate that I could not be manipulated."

A source within the party said that Ms Rawlins had raised questions about how party money was being spent which were batted aside by longstanding white members.

"She is responsible for the budget of the party. She was trying to question certain things. I thought it was sexism at first but it became obvious (it was racism) because it was the way she was treated. There is a female treasurer who was not treated that way.

"The chairman is the most powerful person in the party but they were always trying to undermine her. It's not the MPs. It's more the party structure."

The source said there was an attempt to get another black woman to stand as chairman. "There are different types of black people. The minute you show you are not willing to go with the programme all of a sudden you are the big bad wolf. I always felt that Gwyneth was put there because she was bright, she could speak well, but she would not give them any trouble."

* See tomorrow's edition of The Royal Gazette for more on this story, including in-depth analysis.