While there's been a trend to fasttracking new people to top positions under Premier Ewart Brown, nobody can claim recently-elected MP Walter Roban didn't earn his spot in Parliament.

Mr. Roban has been a PLP stalwart for years, working at virtually every level.

The married father-of-one first got politically involved in the late 1980s, ironically getting fired up while overseas.

He worked in a mayoral campaign in Atlanta, where he was studying and bumped into PLP bigwigs Dame Lois Browne Evans and Freddie Wade at the 1988 Democrat convention where Jesse Jackson was hoping to run for President.

"It was a very historic event. It was incredible and to meet two Bermudian figures was like 'Wow'. I came back to Bermuda really interested in what was happening in Bermuda."

He tried out the PLP youth wing and was even encouraged by Roosevelt Brown to take a look at the UBP's version. He attended a couple of meetings but preferred the energy and political direction of the PLP.

And when the party lost the 1993 election, he vowed that election night to come home and work to reverse that decision next time around.

"I called my mother and she was giving me the results as they were coming in on the television. When I heard we had lost those two seats I said 'I can't believe it'."

By the 1998 election he was Secretary General, working relentlessly on election strategy into the wee hours. It meant having to be ready for whenever the writ dropped.

The hard work paid off and the PLP were swept to power but Mr. Roban took a break from politics for more studies and for the birth of his daughter.

He then entered the Senate in 2003 where he was finally out front after spending years in the backrooms.

His three years in the Upper Chamber sparked an ambition to seek a seat in Parliament.

Mr. Roban had a long history with Pembroke East, vacated as Ottiwell Simmons retired at the last election, but Mr. Roban had to undergo several votes before the party HQ ratified the selection. However, he won't be drawn into any of that.

Now he's Junior Minister for Labour, Home Affairs and Housing. Elected at the December election he has been thrown in the deep end.

"I had to spend 13 hours out of the 42 hours representing the Government just like if I was a full Cabinet Minister. It was fun but tiring. I enjoyed it."

He quickly had to bone up on the skills needed to be effective in Parliament which he defines as confidence, good presentation, clarity in speech, intelligence and common sense.

Asked if he had those skills, he said: "I am a product in development at all times."

Quizzed about his political ambitions Mr. Roban, who is a trust review officer at the Bank of Bermuda, said: "At the moment to be a good Member of Parliament — that is really it."

But he recognises he has a long way to go and constituents are already throwing plenty of work his way.

With three straight wins under its belt, these are good times for the PLP. Mr. Roban said the UBP seemed to want to run away from its past but didn't seem to be sure what it was going to become.

"The comments of their chairman recently seemed to be more about how the PLP portray us rather than how the people perceived us having been in Government for 30 years. Rather than blaming yourself for your image how about taking responsibility for it?"

Mr. Roban supported Jennifer Smith, then Alex Scott before he was replaced by Dr. Brown. Mr. Roban now backs Dr. Brown to the hilt and said he is an improvement on what went before.

"He's been a good leader. I have known him many years. He has a passionate belief in where his Country should go. He didn't come in not knowing what he wanted to do or being told what he should do. He had a clear vision for Bermuda."

The plan meant even challenging the way the PLP operated, said Mr. Roban.

"He came out and said we have to fix education, there is a problem in education. Those kinds of things put you out on a limb but that is where a leader has to be sometimes. Not behind the troops but out front.

"I believe the party is even healthier with him as leader. Since 2006, there's been a reinvigoration and a wider interest among younger people."

Party meetings are better attended, said Mr. Roban. "I get people coming up to me all the time saying 'I want to get more involved with the party' — this is from people on the street."

He might have been identified as a supporter of every leader and an ardent supporter of whatever the Government is doing but Mr. Roban balks at the suggestion he's a party hack.

"Oh no, please! My Government hasn't been perfect, even I know that! I would hate to be seen as this little machine putting out this crafted message.

"The PLP has tripped and fell, it's done some things it could have done differently. Obviously the situation with the second senior school didn't go all well, even though the intentions behind that were correct. Government made some mistakes."

He acknowledged the hospital project had to be reversed.

"The initial challenges with BHC — perhaps if they had been attacked earlier that wouldn't have emerged.

"There were things Government could have been more proactive on but that's the nature of Governance. But we were new and we had to learn things as we moved along. There was no playbook for how to be the Government."

Recently United Bermuda Party MP Mark Pettingill suggested the PLP have been indoctrinating young people as he spoke about eight-year-olds rushing up to his car and shouting 'PLP! PLP!'.

But Mr. Roban said: "I don't see any problem with that — go to any jurisdiction in this world politics is a passionate activity.

"There was a time when people were enthused with the UBP idea — now it has flipped over again it is somehow dangerous? Give me a break.

"Some families feel passionate enough about their politics that they instruct their younger ones 'this is the party I support and this is why and may tell them this is the best party for us as a family'.

"I don't see why this is seen as a problem. These are the fundamentals of politics which happens all over the world and all of a sudden Bermuda has to be different.

"I know that because I have worked in politics in Britain, I have worked in politics in the US and I have worked here. I have even worked with people from the Caribbean so I know what politics is about.

"My daughter is seven years old and she is PLP and she will tell you why. Age preference is a parental issue."