“Give me 20 good years in politics and I'll be happy,” says MP for St. George's West, Dean Foggo, 39. The neophyte politician, who succeeded in his first attempt at elective office in the July General Election, is settling in for what he hopes to be a long haul as a Progressive Labour Party MP.

But he is realistic, doesn't take himself too seriously and has already learned some valuable lessons in the nature of politics.

“If I don't do well or I'm not a good politician, I pray that I'll recognise that myself and bale out without being pushed out,” he said during an hour long interview on Friday.

But Mr. Foggo began to wonder about his own political survival almost immediately after being elected when he found himself standing shoulder to shoulder in support of former Premier Jennifer Smith who was facing down the final challenge to her leadership.

Ms Smith named him a junior Minister in one of her defiant last stands against the movement to oust her from the Premiership. “As a new MP I was blown away, so I was not thinking at that point,” he said. “I was going with the flow and I was looking at ‘how is Dean Foggo going to survive?'”

He lamented the fact that the “joy” of victory had been taken away from him on the day of that victory. “But I do understand that in politics, you are here today and gone tomorrow... So of course I had to think ‘okay, I'm listed as a supporter' and I was concerned about whether I was going to be used in the new administration,” he said.

“I was there for the political ride and I looked at it as an experience I would hold onto.”

Ironically it was Ms Smith herself who persuaded him to become a candidate for the July poll.

Mr. Foggo said he has always wanted to pursue a political career and counts the former Premier, and his grandfather, the late James Richardson, who was a St. George's Corporation alderman, as his political role models.

“She (Jennifer Smith) is a great role model, I look at her and I want to be like her. She is a hard worker, dedicated and she's always looking at what's right. She's always looking to support what's best for Bermuda, and I like that. Listening to all the criticisms that I've heard over the years, I always thought it was unfortunate that people criticised her based on whether they saw her or not.”

Mr. Foggo lists good listening and communication skills as essential traits of a good politician, and insists that Ms Smith was misunderstood.

“I think she just had a lot on her mind so people mistook her actions.”

National issues, like education, housing and tourism are on the top of his mind at the moment.

On education he is particularly keen on meeting the needs of students who are having a hard time in the mainstream school system.

Efforts should be made to get homes being deliberately kept vacant back on the rental market, while laws should be brought to make it easier to “get rid of tenants who do not meet their contractual obligations”.

And a programme to increase the stock of affordable homes by restoring derelict homes should be boosted, he said.

Mr. Foggo also believes that government's efforts in tourism could be retooled by focusing more on the product as opposed to advertising.

“We need to bring the culture back onto our Island,” he said. “I think we are slowly doing that... And, of course, we need a hotel in St. George's.”

Mr. Foggo's election victory meant he had to give up his job as a teacher at CedarBridge Academy and is now the program director for the alternative education programme CARE.

He won the St. George's West contest against the United Bermuda Party's Kim Swan by 22 votes.

He is the youngest of Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie Earl Foggo's four children and was educated at East End Primary and Berkeley Institute and Alabama A&M University where he earned a Master's degree in Business Education.