Rumour-mongering aimed at destroying the character of election candidates has begun to swirl.

One of the hottest rumours circulating through a "swing'' constituency -- and convincingly denied by the candidate concerned -- has him being found in bed with another man.

Other rumours concern drug use, financial insolvency and graft.

How and where they're hatched is a mystery, but at least one party has gone out of its way to track a nasty rumour about one of its neophyte candidates to its source.

Party representatives acknowledge the practice is happening and agree it will probably intensify as an election approaches.

"Is it going to continue? I hope not,'' said United Bermuda party chairman Mr. Joe Gibbons.

"But I think it's inevitable. It's used in US politics. We see it in smear campaigns and more recently in the Presidential election.

" So it's not unreasonable to think that individuals might start circulating rumours to discredit candidates, particularly in marginal constituencies.'' One Progressive Labour Party MP, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The stakes are very high. You've got a party that's never been out of power and a party that's never won.

"But there is a line in Bermuda politics, at least in terms of public accusations about morality and extramarital affairs. They have not been features of public campaigns as has been the case in the US and more recently in England.

"But that doesn't mean there isn't innuendo and gossip used on the grapevine.

There is a lot of that, even more than in the past.'' Both parties resolutely condemn the practice of rumour-mongering.

Government Senate Leader the Hon. Michael Winfield said the kind of rumour-mongering that has surfaced in recent months is the "despicable, negative side of politics. "It is totally foreign to Bermuda and should be stamped out,'' he said.

"I've heard the rumours,'' Mr. Terry Lister, the Progressive Labour Party's campaign chairman, said. "We don't support it or promote it. It's politics at its lowest level and I wouldn't want us to be a part of it.'' There is no danger of candidates actually speaking publicly about the moral, ethical or financial shortcomings of their opponents. Character assassinations can emerge from anywhere in political organisations.

"You've got a lot of people out there who will fight dirty for what they want,'' a PLP MP said.

One UBP politician, who has been the target of rumours, says he was shocked how one rumour gained momentum, even to the point that friends called him with questions about it.

"When I first heard it, I just laughed,'' he said. "But as it persisted, I got angry. When I got into this business one of the things I wanted to avoid the backstabbing and the dirty politics.

"But if you let them get away with this stuff, they've succeeded. I don't know what to do. I've talked to senior politicians about it and their advice has been the same: You just have to let it go, there's nothing you can do.'' Whether rumour-mongering succeeds is a moot question.

Mr. Gibbons thinks it's a risky practice with limited chance of success. "My gut feeling is there is little to be gained,'' he said. "Bermuda is a small society and I don't think the electorate appreciates these kinds of rumours circulating. They may end up having the opposite effect of the one intended.''