battlegrounds in the October 5 general election, The Royal Gazette today looks at Warwick East.

In the eighth part of a series on some of the more interesting constituency battlegrounds in the October 5 general election, The Royal Gazette today looks at Warwick East.

Warwick has emerged as a key battleground in the upcoming election. And nowhere are hopes for Progressive Labour Party gains stronger than in Warwick East.

Always a marginal constituency in which a handful of votes can decide the outcome, Warwick East was held by the United Bermuda Party in 1968 and 1972, split between the UBP and PLP in 1976, held by the PLP in 1980, and again split between the two parties in 1983.

That was the year the Hons. Irving Pearman and Gerald Simons made their first runs for the UBP in Warwick East. Mr. Pearman won on his first try, while Mr.

Simons joined him in the House of Assembly in 1985. The UBP again held the two seats in 1989.

Mr. Alex Scott, who is running in Warwick East with Mr. Calvin Smith and is also PLP campaign co-chairman, said there were three reasons why the party was confident of regaining the seats this time.

One is a change in the demographics of Warwick East, which with 2,455 registered voters is now the Island's most populous. The register has swelled by 371 voters since 1989.

"Folks have moved in from the Devonshire area, and interestingly enough from Sandys,'' Mr. Scott said. Many of them were "solid PLP.'' Devonshire North and both Sandys constituencies are considered safe PLP territory.

Secondly, the retirement of Mr. Walter Brangman of the National Liberal Party meant many of the 569 votes he polled in 1989 should be "coming home'' to the PLP, Mr. Scott said.

A former PLP MP, Mr. Brangman held the seat for that party in 1976, 1980, and 1983. This year's NLP candidate, Ms Debra Saltus, was not as well-known in the constituency, and "what Ms Saltus doesn't get, we will pick up,'' Mr. Scott said.

Thirdly, the Cabinet Minister incumbents have "a dubious record'' in their portfolios, he said. Recently moved to Environment, Mr. Simons "failed'' as Education Minister, and Mr. Pearman has been repeatedly under fire over Immigration matters, he said.

"I certainly don't want to sound confident or cocky, but it appears at this moment it is ours to lose,'' Mr. Scott said of Warwick East.

While Mr. Pearman and Mr. Simons acknowledge they are in a close race, they would reject Mr. Scott's arguments. Mr. Pearman said constituents appreciated the fact they could address both local and national concerns.

Mr. David Summers, the UBP branch chairman in Warwick East, said the Minister's campaigns were going "very well.'' Held by the UBP since 1985, "I wonder if in fact Warwick East is one of the tight marginals that it's made out to be,'' Mr. Summers said.

As for Mr. Brangman's vote, his supporters were obviously free thinkers, he said. If they were going to vote PLP, they would have done so before now.

Crime and drugs are a major issue in densely-populated Warwick.

Delegated Affairs Minister the Hon. Sir John Sharpe, who is running in neighbouring Warwick West, said at a recent news conference that drugs were the major concern in the parish. He announced a stepped-up Police presence and raids in Bermuda's worst drug areas.

Other local concerns were Police harassment of youth, flooding in the Privateer Lane area, and plans for a Ritz-Carlton hotel on South Shore Road, Mr. Smith said. Constituents "believe the whole thing is just on hold until after the election, and then they will see the hotel blocking their view.

"They believe that as soon as there is enough funding, the project will go forward.'' The NLP's candidate, Ms Saltus, is a Bank of Bermuda employee and top sportswoman. She said education was a major concern.

A wild card in the election is the Independent candidacy of Ms Patricia Gordon Pamplin. Founder of the Alliance for the Protection of Rights of Bermudian Women, Ms Gordon Pamplin is in the midst of a well-publicised fight with the Immigration Department over whether her non-Bermudian husband can stay on the Island.

She is a former UBP deputy branch chairman, but both parties said it was difficult to tell from where she would draw her votes.

Warwick East: Candidates -- Patricia Gordon Pamplin, 43, chartered accountant (Ind); Irving Pearman, 66, managing director Holmes, Williams and Purvey Ltd.

(UBP); Debra Saltus, 40, Bank of Bermuda employee (NLP); Alex Scott, 53, owner Scott Crafts Ltd. (PLP); Gerald Simons, 46, group sales manager Argus Group of Companies (UBP); Calvin Smith, 60, manager BIU Credit Union (PLP).

Electoral Hall -- Warwick Academy. Electorate -- 2,455. 1989 election -- Gerald Simons (UBP) 671; Irving Pearman (UBP) 667; Walter Brangman (NLP) 569; Roosevelt Brown (PLP) 539; Barbara Ball (PLP) 439.

MR. ALEX SCOTT -- Warwick East incumbents have `a dubious record.' OCTOBER 1993 ELECTION