both political parties are talking change.

The Progressive Labour Party wants a change of Government -- the first since party politics were introduced to Island elections in 1968.

"X-change them,'' is the PLP campaign theme.

The Opposition party also promises changes in how the country is run. Some would come quickly, others after more study, PLP Leader Mr. Frederick Wade said.

The governing United Bermuda Party also talks about change. But it is the threat of external changes that they emphasise, and how those changes can best be managed and controlled.

The world was changing and Bermuda had to change, said Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan.

But, "change for the sake of change is really not the answer.'' Mr. Wade said the PLP was encouraged by recent world trends.

"The world is in a mess because of conservative governments,'' he said.

"People are saying now that they wish to see a change.'' The Berlin Wall crumbled, and the Soviet Union disintegrated, but could UBP rule in Bermuda be at an end? In the United States in November, Democrat Bill Clinton toppled the conservative government of Republican George Bush. Last June, Israel's Labour Party won enough seats to form a centre-left coalition and oust the right-wing Likud block.

But "Bermuda is another world,'' Mr. Wade said. "I take nothing for granted.'' And the UBP counters each conservative setback with examples of their own. Sir John notes that Prime Minister John Major retained a 21-seat majority in elections in Great Britain last April. And conservatives recently defeated a Labour Government in the Bahamas.

In Sweden, Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson resigned after the Social Democrats suffered their worst defeat in more than 60 years. And in Finland, a centrist party recently ended 25 years of dominance by Social Democrats.

"There is no question that the world is changing, and Bermuda is changing with it,'' said Sen. Michael Winfield, who counts change among his responsibilities as Minister of Management and Technology.

The election that must be called no later than February is "about acceptable change,'' and "assuring this country is able to meet the challenge,'' he said.

Threatened by possible closure of the US Naval Air Station and changes in American tax laws, "Bermuda is at a crossroads in our history and we just can't risk experimentation.'' Premier Swan said the Commission on Competitiveness and Task Force on Employment were ways that Government was preparing for change. "The world around us is going to be changing so much that we want to make sure that there is at least a level of internal stability.'' He rejected the notion Bermudians resisted change. "They are educated people,'' he said. "They travel a lot. They understand things in a much more comprehensive way.'' But, "they don't just change for the sake of change; they measure it.'' Sen. Winfield said that in 1989 the PLP denied a recession was coming.

"They have consistently resisted even the awareness of change.'' Dr. Grant Gibbons, the UBP campaign chairman, said with no Opposition members retiring, change was better reflected in the Government's slate of candidates than the PLP's.

More than half the UBP's 40 candidates would be new, and there were six new candidates in seats the party considered "safe,'' he said. "In terms of change, you've got to have evolution. We've got a really good crew coming in.'' The new blood would mix with the UBP's existing MPs who provided "experience and continuity.'' Bermuda weathered the recession better than other countries through good management, not good luck, he said.

Bermudians "really want to have a look at who it was they were changing for, and what that change would bring.'' What changes would a PLP Government make? "A change away from benefiting the few to benefiting the majority,'' Mr. Wade said.

But, "you're not going to see a lot of change quickly. We have to spend some time, I think, doing some fact finding.'' Finances would limit Government action, he said. Repeating a charge that Government rejects, Mr. Wade said: "We would be inheriting a bankrupt country.'' Despite the cost, Tumim Report recommendations like court stenography and videotaping of Police interviews would begin immediately, Mr. Wade said.

Easier access to medication and other steps to help the elderly were changes that would be made "almost immediately''.

Sen. Alex Scott, the PLP campaign co-chairman and a candidate in Warwick East, said there would be more emphasis on training and eliminating work permits by drawing Bermudians into the workforce.

And there would be a partnership between management and labour, without "giving away the shop''.

Change was in the air, he said. "Normally, you come up with a theme, then you have to introduce it and sell it or make it have some kind of credibility or currency.'' But the "X-change them'' theme came from the grass roots, he said.

The UBP had made the decisions "for at least 30 years plus,'' and Government promises for improvement now "wear a little bit thin,'' Sen. Scott said.

Changes Bermuda had seen were at the urging of the PLP. "I think folks have seen enough of the recommendations and ideas that the PLP have put forward carried out in halfway measures by the Government. The full-blooded benefits that the idea represents never come to fruition.'' He agreed "Bermudians are reluctant to go for change,'' but said that only made comments he was hearing while canvassing more remarkable.

"The fact that Bermuda is one of the last colonies is not an accident,'' he said. "The British influence here, especially as Britain is seen to be conservative, has been kept alive.'' Still, independence would not be pursued in the first term of a PLP Government, not because the party did not support it, but because Bermudians had not warmed up to the idea.

Bermuda's geography could help explain why "an awful lot of Bermudians are resistant to change,'' said Mr. David Gosling, a counsellor with Transitions.

"We're famous for being traditional,'' he said. "That's part of our image; part of our bread and butter,'' and a strength as well as a weakness.

"But I think it runs much deeper than that. There is a very strong attitude that what was good enough for my parents is good enough for my children.'' And the Island had "a relatively rigid social system that doesn't particularly permit change, either,'' Mr. Gosling said. "There's not much room at the top.'' On the other hand, Bermudians were widely-travelled and in many ways very sophisticated. The international business sector, in particular, was known for quickly responding to change and embracing new technology.

Because of the change in the voting age and the time lapse since the last vote, Bermudians between age 18 to 24 can vote for the first time in the next election.