Wayne Furbert?s grip on his under-fire party looked less assured than ever last night ? with the majority of his MPs and Senators lying low rather than coming out in support of their leader.

attempted to contact every single United Bermuda Party parliamentarian yesterday, with the exception of Maxwell Burgess, who has already called for Mr. Furbert (pictured at top) to resign. Only three answered or returned telephone calls and just two of those were prepared to publicly back their boss.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell was one. He said: ?These are difficult times for our party, for the country and particularly for Wayne Furbert, the leader. I support him.?

Suzann Roberts-Holshouser, who holds the Opposition?s women?s affairs and child and family services portfolios, was the other.

She said: ?Our leader has been put in place to lead the UBP and its members of parliament. I support the leader.?

Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell refused to reveal whether he backed Mr. Furbert. ?The short answer is that I?m not a little distressed that all this stuff has got into the media,? he said. ?I?m not interested in making any comment whatsoever.?

John Barritt left a phone message on Friday in which he said he supported Mr. Furbert.

The rest of the party?s MPs ? Jon Brunson, Michael Dunkley, Grant Gibbons, Louise Jackson, Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, Trevor Moniz and Cole Simons ? could not be reached for comment at work, at home or on their cell phones.

The same applied to the three Opposition Senators: Kim Swan, Bob Richards and Gina Spence-Farmer.

A party source ? who would not be named ? told this newspaper that there was disquiet about the way Mr. Furbert has handled the recent damaging resignations of Shadow Minister Jamahl Simmons and party chairman Gwyneth Rawlins.

?I think when one person is bombarded with so many negative things back to back to back it?s bound to have an impact.

?He certainly has had a lot on his plate. I think that what he?s going to have to do is to manage it by breaking it into small, bite-size pieces if he?s going to remain in leadership.

?I think we could have handled this a lot better and managed it a lot better. But I can?t say I?m disappointed. You can only be disappointed when you have expectations.?

UBP stalwart Mr. Burgess called for the leader to quit at a press conference on Thursday ? just a day after Ms Rawlins resigned, blaming a white elite who ?disrespected? her as the reason for her decision. Mr. Burgess said: ?Wayne Furbert should do the honourable thing and go.?

Some within the party have claimed that his comments ? and those of Mr. Simmons and Ms Rawlins ? are part of an orchestrated campaign to cause damage.

But Mr. Simmons, who branded the UBP as stuck in the past and riddled with racists, last night denied that.

He said he hadn?t talked to Mr Burgess or Ms Rawlins until after their incendiary announcements. He added: ?This thing about me writing her (Ms Rawlins?) speech, I never saw it. I didn?t even know about it until I watched it on the news.?

He said there was no conspiracy. ?They would rather look in the clouds than look at themselves. Conspiracy theory? They can do a little better than that

?It?s like when a wife leaves a husband ? it?s easier for the husband to say another man was involved than she left because he was treating her badly.?

Mr. Simmons also denied he was involved with any new political grouping ? despite interest from political activist Khalid Wasi who is trying to form a new party to replace the floundering UBP.

Mr. Darrell said yesterday that the party needed to deal with its problems internally. ?It?s tragic that it?s gone to the media,? he said. ?I just think the papers have been replete with this whole story. I think this is a party matter. It?s really unfortunate that it?s been leached to the press. It needs to be developed within the party.?

Ms Roberts-Holshouser added: ?My job, which was put into place by the people of St. David?s, is to represent the people of St. David?s. While canvassing I have got to tell you that what has been going on within the UBP has not been an issue. What has been an issue in St. David?s is the issues that pertain to those individuals. I?m not affected by anything other than the responsibility I have.?