Marc Bean enters contest for Sandys North
The founder of the Free Democratic Movement was this morning announced as its candidate for an upcoming by-election.
Marc Bean is to join the contest for Sandys North, which was vacated by the resignation of Kathy-Lynn Simmons, who was a Progressive Labour Party MP and former Attorney-General.
He will stand in the by-election on October 4 — against Carl Neblett, for the One Bermuda Alliance, the Reverend Emily Gail Dill for the PLP and Cire Bean, who is an independent candidate.
At the last General Election, in 2020, Ms Simmons had 431 votes, Mr Bean had 185 votes and Jeff Sousa, representing the OBA had 114 votes.
Asked at a press conference announcing his candidacy why he thought he could turn around such a big PLP majority, Mr Bean said: “We are seeking to serve the public, so we submit ourselves to their will and pleasure.
“If they feel that they need change, then we’re going to put our best foot forward, regardless of the results from three years ago.
“A lot has changed over the last three years and this is an excellent opportunity for us to test the electorate, and test the political space and also provide an alternative option for those who want genuine substantive change.”
Pressed on whether losing could jeopardise his future election chances, Mr Bean, a former PLP leader, added: “I’ve lost three by-elections in my lifetime.
“Winning and losing comes along with politics because you have to submit yourself to the will of the people. If the people want you to serve them, then you will win.
“If you don’t get that vote, then you have to go back, redouble your efforts and reflect on the error that you might have made.”
A four-way fight was “good for politics” and “good for the electorate to have their choice”, he said, when asked if having four by-election candidates could benefit the FDM.
Mr Bean highlighted: “We’re just going to do what we’re focused on and right now that is canvassing and touching base with the electorate. Is it [having four candidates] a benefit or a negative? We cannot say.
“Ultimately it’s up to the electorate to decide who they’ll like to serve them.”
The FDM has been relatively quiet over the past few years and Mr Bean said: “While we might have not been seen over the last three years we’ve been coming.
“I can assure you we have a lot of influence within the community. We’re able to resonate with people because we speak the truth.
“Our strategy now is to ensure that we knock on doors — actual grass roots canvassing.”
The press conference would be “the majority of the press that you receive during this by-election”, said Mr Bean.
“By-elections are local. People don’t care about the bells and whistles. People want to know what are you offering and that’s what our focus is going to be on and we can only articulate that on the doorstep.”
He said the “number one” local issue was school closures, “not just for Somerset Primary but also West End Primary”.
The Government did an about turn on West End which had been slated for closure and instead announced the eventual closure of Somerset Primary, which was earlier expected to stay open.
Mr Bean said: “I know that the Government has flip-flopped over the school closures, but we made our position clear a few months ago that we are not going to close any schools.”
“For Bermuda to grow, it must focus on human development and the first priority of human development are our children,” he added.
“We have been advocating for Somerset Primary and West End to stay open and we’re going to maintain that.
“When the day comes that we become the Government, we can assure you that we’re going to implement the policies that we articulated a few months ago on how we could strengthen the education system in this country.”
As well as pledging to keep all public schools open, the FDM said it would introduce a more decentralised leadership structure to return decision-making powers to school leaders.
Mr Bean said he would work to improve the relationship between the West End Development Corporation and its residential and business tenants which, he said, was “sometimes very antagonistic” and required an “ honest broker”.
The creation of new jobs was also crucial and Mr Bean said he would establish a zone from Dockyard to Daniel’s Head to help small businesses and entrepreneurs take advantage of the area’s popularity among tourists.
Nationally, Mr Bean said key issues included the cost of energy, overall governance and healthcare.
“These are the things that have to be addressed and we plan to address them, when, if it’s the will of the people, they decide to let the FDM represent their interests in Parliament.”
A statement from the PLP this afternoon said: “As we approach the by-election we are truly grateful to have the Reverend Emily Gail Dill as our candidate.
“In an election where there are now four candidates, we offer the community a representative with the consistency, maturity, reliability, and temperament that Dr Dill brings to this community.”
• Video by Blaire Simmons
• To read the full PLP statement, see Related Media
• UPDATE: this story has been updated with more details from a press conference held by Marc Bean to announce his candidacy
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