The Progressive Labour Party (PLP) has selected one of its rising stars to run in Devonshire East, which could prove to be a marginal seat.

"I never thought I'd reach these heights in such a short time," said former sportsman and PLP chairman Neville Sinclair Tyrrell, who only became involved in politics in 1996 after the then new Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith encouraged him to join the party and manage the successful election campaign for Warwick East two years later.

"I like to help and I like to serve," he said. "I thought politics would be the way to do that and I felt I had something to offer the party. I had always been a supporter anyway and felt maybe I could help to further their social aims. I guess that's what attracts me to the party because I feel I am there for the common person. I've always supported the underdog and they need representation."

Mr. Tyrell said he thought he could have run as a candidate during the 1998 election.

"I don't think that I was ready then. Having had experience working the party, it's given me a good perspective. I've come up through the party and I felt the next step was this."

The former president of the Bermuda Football Association, Mr. Tyrell now works as a manager and pensions consultant for Colonial Pensions Services.

He was born in Devonshire, where he grew up around the Dock Hill area, and attended Central School (now Victor Scott), the Bermuda Technical Institute and then management school in England. On returning to the Island, he joined the management training programme at Cable and Wireless and rose to the position of Human Resources Manager, until he left the company in 1996. During his tenure there, he represented the company on the Chamber of Commerce and the Bermuda Employers' Council, while other past positions include secretary of the Bermuda Shriner's Club and past executive member of the Centaurs United Football Club. A grandfather, he is married to Sheila and they have three children, Teena, Craig and Nekisha.

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Dairy owner and manager Michael Dunkley is the United Bermuda Party's (UBP) choice to run in District 11, also known as Devonshire East.

Born and raised in the parish in a house off the South Shore Road, he is no stranger to the area but a relative newcomer to politics, and has been the Parliamentary representative for the old constituency of Devonshire South since 1997, when he won a by-election following the resignation of the then Premier Dr. David Saul.

Since the UBP's defeat the year after that, he has served in the House of Assembly as Shadow Home Affairs Minister and also the party's Health Care and Housing spokesman.

In 2002, he was awarded the title of "Shadow Minister in the Limelight" by the Best of Bermuda Gold Awards for his dogged questioning of Ministers over the scandal in the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC), including an incident which saw him silenced by the Speaker for criticising a ruling which banned debate of the matter.

He also gained notoriety for his call that year to reintroduce the death penalty so that it could serve as "the ultimate deterrent" for criminals. Asked why he got involved in politics, he said: "I was concerned about future of the Island and thought I had ability to contribute. I enjoy working with people and it's one of greatest satisfactions for me to try and put happiness in other peoples lives. I want to try and give something back."

Mr. Dunkley was educated at Saltus Grammar School, at Trinity College School in Ontario and then went to the University of Richmond in Canada, from where he graduated at age 21 with a degree in economics.

On returning to the Island shortly after that, he immediately got involved with "the family business", or the Island's main milk producer Dunkley's Dairy, where he rose up the ranks and now holds the position of chief executive officer.

A former first division football and cricket player, Mr. Dunkley was also a member of the Hospital Insurance Commission, and Government's Agriculture and Immigration Boards. He is married and a father of two.