PLP candidate David Burch is a former commanding officer of the Bermuda Regiment who last year became Housing Minister.

Educated at West End Primary, Southampton Glebe and Sandys Secondary, he also attended two elite British military schools, the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and the School of Infantry, Warminster.

During a 20 year military career, he has trained with other units in the United Kingdom, Canada, Belize, Jamaica and the United States.

After the 1998 General Election, he was appointed Premier Jennifer Smith's chief of staff and became Government Senate leader.

Col. Burch was awarded the Efficiency Decoration for outstanding military service in 1990, and the First Clasp in 1996.

In 1998, he was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Military Division.

He spent 14 years in international business as a reinsurance underwriting manager with Fortune 500 companies, specialising in computerised reporting.

He stood unsuccessfully in Smith's South at the last election and in the Smith's South by-election in 2001, when he was beaten by his current opponent, Maxwell Burgess.

He is a member of the Bermuda Sea Cadet Association, Bermuda National Trust and the Royal Artillery Association.

Opposition Whip Maxwell Burgess is a political veteran who began his parliamentary career in 1983 when he was elected in Hamilton Parish.

He was appointed Minister of Youth and Sport and held the position until 1989. He also served as Minister of Transport from 1993 to 1995, and Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety from May, 1998 until November that year when he lost his seat in the election.

He was appointed Senate Opposition leader after the election, but was returned to the House of Assembly in 2001 when he defeated Col. Burch in the Smith's South by-election.

Mr. Burgess was educated at Francis Patton School, Bermuda Technical Institute and the University of Maryland through Bermuda College, where he was awarded a Certificate in Management.

In 1984, he was given a Leader Award by the US Government which allowed him to tour for four weeks studying community colleges and parks.

A member of Hamilton Lions Club and Hamilton Parish Workmen's Club, he is also a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is employed at John W. Swan Limited.

Mr. Burgess is married to Kathy Cann and they have one daughter.