alienated voters in the party stronghold of Paget West.

The three candidates pounding the Paget West pavement have failed so far to build the party membership list to much more than 250 out of 1,153 registered voters.

"It's just unreal,'' said one of the candidates, Mr. Mark Selley. "With three guys we should be signing up 150 people every week.'' The candidates are Mr. Selley, Mr. Terry West and Mr. Tim Smith. Each hopes to replace the Hon. David Wilkinson, the Speaker of the House, who has announced he will not run in the next election.

The candidates have been busy knocking on doors in recent weeks, attempting to win support and convince people to pay $1 to join the party and vote in the August 17 primary.

They aren't encountering much PLP support, they said. But they are finding what other politicians around Bermuda -- and in many other parts of the world -- have reported: People who feel estranged from their Government.

"A lot of people want change,'' Mr. West said. "They are very concerned, very discouraged with inaction by the UBP Government, that they have been taken for granted.'' Many people felt Government was "crisis driven with short-term policy making,'' he said. "Over-regulated, over-controlled and under-served was what one lady told me''.

Mr. Smith agreed that a lot of the party's Paget West supporters seemed "somewhat jaded''.

"I guess generally, much like the United States, there is apathy among people towards the political process,'' he said.

Mr. Selley said he was impressed at how many people who regularly vote for the UBP weren't prepared to fork over $1 for party membership -- and the right to vote in a primary that will almost certainly determine their next MP.

Indeed, he said, large numbers of people weren't registered to vote at all.

The current system of annual voter registration clearly isn't working, he said.

And many voters complained that they hadn't seen their MPs for years. "If Government could show commitment on the constituency basis, they'll get a lot more support Island-wide,'' he said. "Until that happens, there's going to be this alienation.'' Mr. Trevor Moniz, an adopted UBP candidate in Smith's South -- where a primary is expected later this year -- said he has encountered some anti-Government sentiment from UBP supporters.

But the nature of the Paget West and Smith's South constituencies and candidates make direct comparisons difficult, he said.

"Between elections there tends to be a sort of tide against the Government, and when the elections come closer things tend to coalesce. Everyone has a gripe against the Government...but I haven't found any greater backlash than I expected.'' Paget West's other incumbent, the Hon. Harry Soares, who is not involved in the primary, agreed there is alienation among people who ought to be the UBP's enthusiastic supporters.

"We are hitting hard times and people are naturally looking for something to be done about it,'' he said. "A lot of people are displeased with the way Bermuda is going, but somehow they don't keep it in context with the world.

"On a relative basis, Bermuda is unbelievably well managed but somehow Bermudians don't look at Bermuda in a world context.

"Our standard of living is reputed to be the highest in the world, the number of trips we take abroad has got to be one of the highest in the world, yet somehow it is not enough.'' House candidates often have an unrealistic view of how much time is available for going door-to-door to visit their constituents, he added -- or how much time it can take.

At the same time, he said, some constituents have an unrealistic view of what their MPs should be able to accomplish.

"As soon as you can't achieve their personal desire, you fall out with them,'' he said. "Many people are looking for advocates, rather than standing up for what is right or wrong.''