next two weeks.

Mr. Hodgson -- picked to fight Hamilton West at the General Election for the PLP -- cannot be officially adopted until he quits his job.

He said this week: "All I'm trying to do now is finish off my part-heard cases and I should have them all out of the way by August 6.

"After that, I can begin to talk as a politician -- being where I am, I have just stayed aloof from all that.'' Mr. Hodgson added that he was already obliged to disqualify himself from cases where there could be an impression of bias.

But it is understood that his remaining cases are unlikely to present any problems.

Mr. Hodgson, who will contest the seat held by Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Maxwell Burgess and Health and Family Services Minister Wayne Furbert, will line up alongside ex-Civil Servant Randy Horton.

Mr. Hodgson represented the same seat with Calvin Smith between 1980-83.

The two UBP Ministers snatched the seats in Hamilton West at the 1993 poll from sitting Opposition MPs Eugene Blakeney and Julian Hall.

The double whammy is widely regarded as having cost the PLP their first chance to hold the reins of power in Bermuda.

The constituency -- together with neighbouring Hamilton East -- will also play a key role in the next General Election, likely to be held towards the end of the year.

Both constituencies will undergo boundary changes for the General Election -- making the results even harder to predict.

Hamilton East -- which has swapped between both main parties and the National Liberal Party in recent years -- was won by the PLP team of Renee Webb and Rev. Trevor Woolridge in 1993.

Rev. Woolridge quit after a sex assault court case controversy -- even though he was cleared on appeal.

And Bermuda Industrial Union boss Derrick Burgess dealt out a Hamilton hammering to UBP candidate Francis Furbert earlier this year. By-elections are difficult to judge because of the twin-seat constituencies in Bermuda -- but Mr. Burgess massively increased the PLP vote, leaving Mr. Furbert trailing.