Beleaguered United Bermuda Party Leader Wayne Furbert is still in his post after his colleagues opted not to press ahead with a scheduled confidence vote last night.

While it had been expected Mr. Furbert would resign or be voted out a mystery deal was hatched at the gathering of MPs.

At 7 p.m. party chairman Shawn Crockwell emerged to say: “The group took a decision to work through the process carefully and to ensure whatever decision we come to is in the best interests of the party and the best interests of the country.

“We are still dealing with it with the prudent and very wise tactical move forward to make sure what we come to is something in the best interests of all parties involved.”

Mr. Crockwell confirmed the no confidence motion was still on the table. The Royal Gazette understands it has been signed by Deputy Leader Michael Dunkley, David Dodwell, Suzann Roberts-Holshouser, Louise Jackson, Grant Gibbons and Jon Brunson.

Mr. Crockwell gave no timetable for a solution but said: “We expect to have the issue resolved in short order.”

Asked if the party had time to spend on more internal deliberations with an election looming Mr. Crockwell said: “I think that is all a part of the prudent deliberation, to recognise the importance of the decision and the timing and everything will be done to ensure the best outcome is what’s achieved.”

As MPs left the meeting it was still unclear who was in charge.

Mr. Furbert was asked four times whether he was still the leader but refused to answer the questions while Louise Jackson was also unable to answer.

Eventually John Barritt confirmed that Mr. Furbert was still in charge.

It’s thought some of the party’s MPs who had not signed the motion were unhappy to oust Mr. Furbert without knowing who the replacement would be.

It’s also thought a tactful way of easing Mr. Furbert out was being worked on to avoid more embarrassment for the party which has suffered several messy high-profile resignations amid accusations of lingering racism.

Some party insiders fear Mr. Furbert will quit his marginal Hamilton West seat if he is made to step down.

But one highly-placed party source said that would be counterproductive.

“When someone has done 30 years in an organisation and has been as vocal as he has — supporting the party, being chairman, being a Government minister and then leader — to do a 360 at this stage publicly would be very disappointing — he then becomes a Judas.

“It would be in his best interests to stand by what he’s said for the past 30 years.”

The insider said there had been many private meetings with Mr. Furbert urging him to step aside but he would not go.

“He loves the country, this was always something he aspired to do.”

Mr. Furbert’s leadership was badly damaged by the way he handled party splits including the resignations of MP Jamahl Simmons and party chairwoman Gwyneth Rawlins.

And he has constantly lagged behind Premier Ewart Brown in the polls while canvass returns are also said to have been a factor in forcing the seven rebels to make a stand.

Deputy leader Michael Dunkley is the hot favourite to take the top job but other possible contenders include Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, David Dodwell and Bob Richards.

Asked if the continuing leadership malaise, which had seen the party selecting a new leader twice in 14 months was embarrassing, Mr. Crockwell said: “I don’t know about using the word embarrassing but we might need to look at our constitution.

“I think it is a very serious issue — selecting a leader of the country and potentially the Premier of Bermuda. I just think it should be more democratic.

“Clearly when we were in Government we had greater numbers to make that decision now the numbers have dwindled you are leaving a very large decision to a few people.

“More individuals should have a say in moving forward to get a better feel for it.”