Dennis Lister doesn’t like the term dynasty.

“It’s just a word that doesn’t suit me,” the veteran Sandys North Central MP said in an interview with The Royal Gazette.

“I look at what I do purely as public service — this is about serving people. If you can’t see yourself serving people, this isn’t for you.”

Since he was first elected as a Progressive Labour Party MP in 1989, there have been at least two Lister family members chosen to represent Sandys in every General Election. His brother Terry Lister began his House of Assembly career in 1998 and held a number of Cabinet positions, running twice for leadership of the party before leaving to sit as an independent MP in 2013. Walter Lister, his uncle, served as an MP from 1976 to 2012, and was a former Cabinet minister, party whip and Deputy Speaker.

Last Tuesday, his eldest son — Dennis Lister III — defeated incumbent Jeff Sousa to take Warwick West, until last week a firm One Bermuda Alliance seat.

Dennis Lister III said both his victory, and the margin of his party’s win, didn’t come as shocks.

“It wasn’t surprising,” he told The Royal Gazette. “A lot of people said they wanted change.

“I can even say personally for myself, from day one of canvassing, I felt confident that I had a good chance of winning my seat.”

Dennis Sr echoed the sentiment on his son’s win.

“From those looking from outside and not understanding what was going on inside, they saw it as a shock and surprise,” he said.

“For those who were inside responding to what was happening on the doorstep ... it looked like a real possibility.”

At 31, the younger Mr Lister enters politics at the same age as his father nearly three decades ago.

“From very young, I always wanted to be a politician,” he said.

He was 4 when his father was first elected and he has been an influential figure, but he said the choice to pursue public service was his own.

“The choice to go into politics was purely his,” his father agreed.

Politics, Dennis Sr said, was always part of home life.

“We’ve had some very heated debates,” he said.

His eldest son, along with his other sons, helped to keep him grounded politically.

“They all readily hold me to task on an issue that I have taken or the party has taken if they felt that we were off base,” he said.

Cannabis, or marijuana, was one issue where father and son held differing opinions.

“What we found after discussion and going back and forth, the common ground for us was trying to make life a little easier for persons who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law with a small quantity of marijuana,” Dennis Sr said.

Dennis Jr said that his energy and new ideas as a new MP would benefit from the guidance of experience to point him in the right direction. Young people always feel like they know it all, but we’re not the first here,” he said.

“There’s always those that have come before us and it never hurts to have the experience of the older heads around us.”

Asked if the issues of the island in 1989 were the same as today, Dennis Sr said “yes and no”.

“As a local representative for that community, the issues that are always paramount are family issues,” he said.

These issues, he said, included the desire of parents to see the betterment of their children, education and infrastructure. Future stability also remained a constant.

“Can I see employment still in my own country, can I see a future that says I can still keep a roof over my head, can I still keep food on the table, can I still keep clothing on the back of my family?” he said.

Going forward, the party’s immediate focus must be on education, and specifically the safety of school facilities, Dennis Sr said.

“We need to make people feel comfortable come the opening of the school year that the health environment is up to standard — that you can feel comfortable sending your children there,” he said.

As a newcomer, Dennis Jr said his immediate focus would be on addressing constituency issues, and to assist ministers and other MPs where necessary on the national level.

“I’m just here to watch and learn,” he said.

Both father and son pointed to hobbies enjoyed by the other when asked to detail about something most did not know about their family member.

“He likes to go swimming most every day,” Dennis Jr said of his father.

“He finds that’s his time to relax, to catch himself — just to rejuvenate. He’s a water rat I guess I can say.”

Dennis Sr said his son enjoyed researching and reading.

“I see it as a quality that has value to it,” he said. “We’ve got to stay on top of what’s happening around us, and the history that got us to where we are.”