Party.

And new chairman Austin Woods, who replaces Ronnie Viera, will be backed by seven new faces.

Mr. Woods, a BTC executive, admitted it was unusual for all the top officials of the party to be replaced at the same time.

But he said the party's long-term plan to recover from the General Election bruising last November called for change.

He said: "Replacing all the officers has happened before -- but in going forward and recognising what has to take place, the party has to bring about a fresh look.'' The deputy chairmen will be delMonte Davis, Charles Hollis, E.T. (Bob) Richards, Anthony Steede and Sharon Vesey.

The man in charge of the party's purse strings as it struggles to pay off its campaign debts is Preston Hutchings -- an investment expert with Renaissance Re -- and secretary will be Christian Dunleavy.

Mr. Woods said: "We want to build a new Bermuda and you can see that the officers represent a good cross-section of Bermuda and also, being the United Bermuda Party, it shows some unification going forward.'' He added all the deputies would be responsible for particular areas of party activity -- although he was tight-lipped on specific plans.

But Mr. Woods said: "We are looking at bringing about some very subtle but meaningful changes to the party.'' Top of the list are understood to be membership, community development, better communication -- both internal and external -- and better liaison between the party hierarchy and the individual branches.

Mr. Woods said: "Based on the election, everybody brings something to the table for change and that's what the party needs to generate some new ideas -- we're looking forward to building a better party in the future.'' He added that there was nothing wrong with the party as it stood -- but public perception caused it problems.

Mr. Woods said: "There were some valuable lessons learnt from the last election -- the problems which were there.

"There have already been some changes and now we need to go into the branches to see what can be done to win the next election.

"There is a strategic plan and each deputy chairman will play a specific role in that.'' He added: "I see their role as dealing with the day-to-day issues and bringing the party together.

"Officers of the central executive will build a party for all Bermudians while Parliamentarians will deal with the issues to get the party back into Government.''