Despite the rumoured threats to his position Opposition leader Grant Gibbons does not believe his leadership is a liability.

And he says standing down for a black leader will not stop the PLP from throwing racial taunts at the next election. Dr. Gibbons said the party had gained electoral ground last time under his stewardship. He told ?And some of the toughest seats we won were won by white candidates. Clearly race is an issue in a lot of things but it is not the only issue. The PLP have gone after both black and white United Bermuda Party leaders on the race issue. The arguments against white leaders are obvious but they have also gone after black UBP leaders and MPs.

?It usually boils down to ?window dressing? or ?uncle Toms?. It is purely divisive and clearly nasty. They are basically saying if you are black you don?t have any choice which party you belong to. ?Until the UBP begins to break down some of these racial barriers ? and it is one of the reasons we felt it important to set up this portfolio which David Dodwell holds of Race Relations and Economic Opportunity ? then you are going to continue to have the polarisation and divisiveness we have seen from the PLP. We take a very different approach which is based on our vision of one Bermuda.?

Dr. Gibbons said there had been a lot discussion this year both inside and outside the party about race and how it affects the leadership of the United Bermuda Party while the PLP had been racially divisive over the last few years.

?For the first time since 1998 the UBP can put itself in a position to win Government. Some people both within the United Bermuda Party and outside the party feel that at this point the United Bermuda Party needs a black leader.?

But Dr. Gibbons said leadership was not an issue of black and white but was about competence, trust, compassion, integrity and sincerity. ?If you want a party which is diverse and inclusive you cannot determine leadership on the simple issue of race. ?That was never the original vision of the UBP which felt that black and white Bermudians should work in equal partnership to take the country ahead.

?It is not right for the party or indeed the community to say a white leader or indeed a black leader should be any less capable of leading the country.

?David Dodwell should not have a lesser chance of leading the party than Wayne Furbert simply on the basis of race.?

And he found it ironic the race issue was thrown at him by the PLP which was primarily of one race. Asked if he should have stepped down after the last election defeat he said: ?If my colleagues had wanted me to go I would have. But they didn?t.?

Nor did Dr. Gibbons offer his resignation. ?I didn?t because they basically felt I should stay. I certainly don?t plan on being UBP leader for ever. However there is however no leadership challenge at the present time. But I have been leader for four years which for most political parties is probably a long time.?

But he put no time limit on his tenure, saying that is up to his party colleagues. Dr. Gibbons even refused to say whether he believed he would lead the party into the next election.

Asked if he lacked charisma, Dr. Gibbons conceded he wasn?t a glad-handing, baby kissing politician. ?I am a more reserved individual but that doesn?t mean I don?t care about people or I don?t relate to what?s happening in the community.?

And he said his family had a long tradition of public service going back to his grandfather who had humble beginnings and started as a shoe salesman in Trimingham?s after leaving school at 14.

?There is a strange sense that because my family have been successful I shouldn?t be involved in politics as well. But in the past there have been a lot of successful business people involved in politics including Sir Henry Tucker, Sir John Swan and (Sir John) Jack Sharpe.

?The same accusation I don?t believe was levelled at them. I have to ask ? wouldn?t you rather have a successful person involved in politics than people who have been unsuccessful?

?Isn?t that what we teach our children? Be successful and work hard?? he asked. ?There are a lot of myths out there and I can see it in perceptions of my family.?

Dr. Gibbons said he could not predict who his party would be up against next time around because of the continuing leadership struggles within the PLP.

?The way they handled the last transition was brutal and I think is one of the reasons they are in as much trouble as they are in right now. When (PLP Tourism and Transport Minister Dr.) Ewart Brown said ?we had to mislead you? that is not a good basis for getting trust from the public.

The UBP is different said Dr. Gibbons. ?I think what you have seen with UBP changes of leadership is they have been handled in a dignified way and have been done in a way which has moved the party forward and there is no reason to think it won?t be that way the next time it happens.?