July's election was a two horse race, but it was also a ‘two race' race - and that is something that still troubles the UBP.

Grant Gibbons, following in the footsteps of a Hamilton mayor father, Premier uncle and MP grandfather, has been pleased with what seems to be a thawing in the race war that dogged the election campaign since the House restarted at the end of October.

Although the cross-floor banter has restarted with the usual jibes, childishness and political point-scoring, there has been an absence of ‘polarised' debate, something that Dr. Gibbons claims was an intrinsic part of the PLP's election to a second-term in office.

“It is my hope that at some point in the next period of time, for my children, or even before that, that we will have an election campaign based on issues rather than on which party is considered to be a white party or a black party,” declares Dr. Gibbons, UBP leader since 2001 and an MP since a Paget by-election in 1994.

“I am not saying that race was the only issue (in the last election) but it was certainly an important one. And we are concerned about the way the PLP used race in the last election. They were happy to use racial slurs and epithets to go after our black candidates.

“Clearly the undercurrent issue was race. It is something that needs to be very proactively dealt with going forward - and we will do that.

“There was a lot of polarisation coming through in the election. One of the things that I think is a very important part of the UBP is the need to break down barriers, often barriers that the PLP are trying to put up.”

Dr. Gibbons has written to Premier Alex Scott suggesting a code of principles so that “on a parliamentary level we can set a good example to the rest of the community in not using prejudice and divisions between the races for short-term political gain”.

He has yet to receive a reply from Mr. Scott, but expects one soon because the new Premier, Dr. Gibbons is happy to freely admit, has brought a new style of openness to Government already - a very different one from his predecessor.

“There clearly was a style of Government which Jennifer Smith had which was very unpopular with party supporters and the broader community,” he continued.

“It was arrogant and uncommunicative and that was reflected by some of the polling about her favourability.

“There is no doubt some of the unpopularity associated with Jennifer Smith was helpful to our campaign but, obviously, it wasn't the only issue.”

But would the PLP have been helped by having Mr. Scott at the helm during the campaign?

“We always have to recognise that Mr. Scott had his own problems with the Berkeley Institute, in relation to the whole mismanagement of the project and the unaccounted for $700,000 bond (Police have now launched an investigation into the fee paid by Government to the contractor).

“Mr. Scott's credibility was pretty low because of the shifting completion date and the serious issues being raised by the Auditor-General.”

Although the PLP changed leader post-election, the UBP has retained its man at the helm. But will he still be there come the next campaign?

“The simple answer to whether I stay or go is very much up to my colleagues and whether they think we are making good progress,” stated Dr. Gibbons matter-of-factly.

“There are some things we could have done better and we have spent a lot of time talking about that.

“Every leader recognises that there is a time when they are part of the solution and there is a time when they are part of the problem and I'm sure my colleagues will let me know when I have crossed that line.”

But, for now, Dr. Gibbons is happy to stay on leading a party, which he believes has made impressive strides since the last election.

The former Oxford student hailed the closeness of the election and his party's recovery from the 1998 defeat - “like a Phoenix, we have risen from the ashes” - but admits some mistakes were made both in canvassing and in the choice of candidates in certain seats.

This, he claims, can be put down to the difficulty in adjusting to a single-seat constituency campaign, with the Government in charge of exactly when electioneering would begin.

“Some of us could have started canvassing earlier and perhaps we should have had more public meetings,” he admitted.

“But in terms of the tone, we were quite happy with that. We kept the level of the campaign positive in all respects, despite what the PLP were sometimes doing with their negative tactics.

“The message of celebrating diversity and inclusiveness was the right one.

“But in terms of choosing candidates, because of the timing, we had a fairly narrow window in which to make decisions about who was going to run where.

“Had we made these decisions at an earlier point, a number of those candidates running in ‘super-marginal' seats would have had more time to cover the constituencies and got out and really learned about the area.

“We were straddling two systems - there was no history to the constituencies.

“Without sounding smug, I think we did a pretty good job of putting people in certain seats.

“We thought we had a good chance of winning it because of the relatively high degree of undecided voters up until polling day.”

So, what is next for the UBP?

“The election itself was a very good election for us in terms of getting new candidates in place,” Dr. Gibbons said.

“As a group, we have a number of issues that we will continue to work on including housing, empowerment, diversification, the economy, education, reform of the criminal justice system and initiatives against violence.

“The platform that we provided has positive and considered solutions to these issues.”

However, Dr. Gibbons also believes the PLP has pretty similar policies, having shifted to the same centrist position as the Opposition.

Dr. Gibbons now contends that the only significant difference between the parties is the ability to deliver to the people.

“One of the measures of our success is that the PLP has moved to the centre,” he said.

“On issues such as good governance, freedom of information, absentee ballots, crime, and a focus on seniors and housing, these are our policies.

“Although we have seen a change in style from the PLP, we also need a change in substance. My own reading of the last election is that the PLP were given a second chance to redeem themselves, and it was very close.

“Unless they deliver substance, I would suggest they are in for a tough time at the next election.

“For them it is a case of not what they can talk about, but what they can deliver.”