Mischa Fubler will fight the Smith’s South by-election for the ruling Progressive Labour Party, it was announced yesterday.

At a press conference at the PLP’s headquarters at Alaska Hall, Mr Fubler, 37, was heralded as a “high-quality candidate” by party chiefs.

Introducing Mr Fubler to the media and party supporters, Walter Roban, the Deputy Premier, said: “He represents the best of us — and the best of what is to come.

“He is a critical thinker. He doesn’t talk without thinking. He is a new face, a new generation.”

Mr Roban added that Mr Fubler, who serves as the PLP’s technology officer, also brought a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Highlighting his ties to Smith’s Parish, Mr Fubler said that he would always regard “home” as Kilderry Lane, although he had lived in other parts of the island and also overseas in Toronto, Bangkok and New York.

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He said: “Home has changed enough times for me to learn that home is where you build your community.

“I’ve found that the key to community-building is to focus on being genuine and favouring collaboration over competition — although, given the circumstances, some competition will be required, but I am confident that my values, vision and variety of skills will confirm to you that I am the best fit for the role.”

Mr Fubler described himself as “a proud product of our public education system”.

He said: “A system that I am deeply committed to assisting with growing from strength for future generations.”

Emphasising that he valued economic justice, Mr Fubler said: “All of us deserve a fair chance at making a financially stable existence. We need a fair economic system that protects the people here, while also attracting our desperately needed population growth.”

Mr Fubler said he also valued social safety nets.

“I believe that healthcare and housing should be a right,” he said.

“We cannot claim to be an advanced society while also allowing some of us to slip through the cracks.”

The prospective MP also said that he valued data-driven decision-making.

“Feelings are important influences in the decision-making process, but if they don’t align with the measured observations, then our approach has to change and a compromise of our longstanding convictions may be required.”

Mr Fubler said he was proud to be a part of campaign group Social Justice Bermuda — a team of “advocates for positive change”.

He added: “I’d like to contribute that ethos to the Progressive Labour party in the House of Assembly.”

He said that, within Smith’s South, he wanted to see “enhanced protection and stewardship of our green spaces”, along with increased economic activity through the development of small businesses in the area — and a return to community-building.

He said: “Either all of us are in this together, or none of us are.”

On a national level, the information technology specialist said he wanted the Government to undergo a “digital transformation”.

He said: “Technology is the lynchpin underlying every significant organisational process change and we need to start paying off some of the technical debt we’ve accumulated over the past decades in order to facilitate a more agile government that is capable of swiftly pivoting to meet the populace’s needs.”

Mr Fubler will face Ben Smith, the Opposition Leader in the Senate, in what is regarded as a safe seat for the One Bermuda Alliance.

The by-election, which will be held on October 5, was called after the retirement of veteran OBA MP and party leader Cole Simons last month.

Mr Simons held the seat for 25 years and secured a comfortable majority at the last General Election, seeing off the PLP’s Owen Darrell by 547 votes to 318.

With five weeks to go before voters go to the polls, the by-election has already sparked a war of words between the island’s two main political parties.

The PLP has acknowledged that the seat represents “an uphill battle” for the party, but has repeatedly lambasted Mr Smith since his nomination was confirmed last week.

In several statements issued by the party’s press office, Mr Smith was described as someone “who does not represent all of Bermuda”, who has taken part in “xenophobic attacks”, and who is “recycled and disrespectful”.

Questioned about the acrimonious remarks, Mr Fubler was diplomatic.

He said: “I’ve made sure to say to the team after seeing some of the press that’s gone on already that I would prefer this campaign to focus on why I am the best fit.

“Do I agree with those sentiments? Well, based on what I’ve read in the paper so far, in his [Smith’s] latest response I found it to be spin. I’m hoping that he is genuine in his claim to want to do better and elevate the discourse.”

Mr Fubler said that the main difference between the two parties centred around fiscal policies.

He said: “The OBA from my observations seems to be more fiscally conservative whereas the Progressive Labour Party champions the low-income earners, middle-class families and labour.”

Asked if that explained why the national debt had ballooned in the past 25 years under the PLP’s stewardship, Mr Fubler replied: “There are many contributing factors. I can’t really speak to the specifics of the budgets that we’ve had over the last two decades but I would like to see changes that create a better balance between encouraging large businesses to flourish and maintaining support for the people.”

In a Royal Gazette interview published yesterday, Mr Smith said he had not ruled himself out of running for the OBA leadership should he be successful in Smith’s South.

He said: “If our team would like for me to put my name forward for leadership then that’s something I would discuss once we get past this first hurdle.”

• For Mischa Fubler’s biography, see Related Media