United Bermuda Party leader Kim Swan faces a tough job uniting a party demoralised by defeat and dissension in its ranks.

Here he tells The Royal Gazette why it's worth taking time to get things right.

His party is still trailing in the polls after a hat-trick of election defeats, while his personal ratings are also in the doldrums, but Kim Swan still believes there is a future for both him and the United Bermuda Party.

And he's convinced the hard-work which won him a parliamentary seat in December after 25 years of trying can reap dividends if applied across the board.

But at the moment electoral success must seem like a pipe dream for a party fragmented between 'one more push' loyalists and those who believe it's time to wind up the United Bermuda Party, which once ruled for 30 straight years.

The dialogue between the two factions, sometimes carried out in the press, has not amused Mr. Swan who became the UBP's fourth leader in two years in January when no one else seemed to want the job.

And since then he's been wrapped up in the party's problems.

The internal debate has seen reformers target Grant Gibbons, Louise Jackson, Bob Richards and Cole Simons as people who should stand down and make way for fresh blood. Such talk clearly irritates Mr. Swan.

He told The Royal Gazette: "I do not condone the singling out and calling by name of my team members in articles. It serves to not only marginalise our colleagues but also incorrectly labels them and creates mistrust."

Finance spokesman Bob Richards has been criticised for shedding 200 votes in Devonshire East after Michael Dunkley switched seats.

But Mr. Swan is full of praise for Mr. Richards and his economic analysis, which has often attracted derision from the Progressive Labour Party.

"A lot of things he's been saying for the last six years have come home to roost."

To Mr. Swan the UBP's finance team of Patricia Gordon Pamplin, Bob Richards and Grant Gibbons is as good as any in Bermuda.

The party also needs its environmentalists, its community leaders, its legal eagles and those with street smarts, said Mr. Swan, who makes an issue of diversity and seems keen to extend it.

The 2007 election netted the UBP ten black MPs and four white MPs, compared with ten years ago when blacks were in the minority among its 14-strong House of Assembly caucus. But Mr. Swan notes there is only one Portuguese MP and only two female MPs in the 2007 intake.

And he ruefully notes there are only two MPs who are over 60. "Yet that demographic is the fastest growing. We are under-represented in certain categories where we could be better served."

However a decreasing demographic appears to be UBP supporters with the party's share of the vote declining last year.

"We have analysed that but we are not prepared to throw out the baby with the bath water," said Mr. Swan.

The UBP got fewer seats than its share of the vote might have indicated and a 2009 boundary commission review might be the source of some hope.

Certainly Mr. Swan has no truck with those wanting to abandon ship.

"I am elected under the United Bermuda Party as were the other 13 members. That's where my loyalties lie about how I make the UBP more viable. It would perpetrate a dishonest act to people who supported us in the last election if, as leader, I didn't believe in this party.

"I do believe in this party and I encourage everyone elected under this banner to rally around and make this party more viable.

"The changes I want are changes I feel can be made from the current framework which exists."

Asked why the UBP keeps losing, he said: "We have lost by narrow margins – by less than five per cent. We have to look at electoral strategies and whether or not we are truly connected with the different communities that exist in Bermuda.

"We need to be in and amongst the community.

"The one element a political party gets elected on is trust and the one way you build on trust is by getting plugged into the community and earning respect, not just the swing voters, or our voters but everyone.

"When you are in Government people come to you because you are managing something, when you are not in Government you have to go to the people."

It was a strategy employed by several Opposition candidates embedded well before the last election such as Gina Spence Farmer and Wayne Scott in marginal Warwick. But both failed to win.

But Mr. Swan said it could take years to build up trust as Jennifer Smith had shown by finally winning St. George's after 17 years and six attempts.

He believes the UBP needs to become a bottom-up party.

"We spent 30 years in Government so we have a management mind-set. It is important to have a balance between the politics of the day and making yourself a more viable opposition."

But pressed on what structure the party needs he will only say: "That is a consensus building element. I don't have the luxury to say this is what I want.

"Our strength is that we are a diverse group, our challenge is to make ourselves an even more diverse group so we don't become insular and we do have our tentacles spread throughout the wider community and we are not afraid to represent important issues.

"We have a responsibility to represent everybody – be they Bermudian or non-Bermudian."

He takes the view that the unpopularity of the UBP has to do with the party not getting over its achievements in power, although he is the first to admit it took up some of the PLP's ideas in three decades in office.

"The PLP has had a narrative about the UBP which has been very political and very successful."

That political edge has helped the PLP win marginal seats.

"One of the biggest mistakes that gets made in Bermuda when it comes to marginal seats is the stereotype that all whites vote in one direction – I know there are many white swing voters and that's a good thing. I would like to see a country where there are 36 marginal constituencies.

"It would make MPs get out there and spend more time on the hustings."

He said every election since 1980 had been fought amid racial overtones and regrets the commonly-held emphasis of focusing on swing voters.

For Bermuda to heal it would be far better to work on the hardcore in both races who resist unity, said Mr. Swan.

There are signs of hope. He said: "The one thing I gleaned in eight months of being leader of the UBP is that the commitment to make Bermuda more fair and equitable place, to reach out, is universally held."

The question is how relevant the UBP is in helping change.

A recent poll showed just four percent of people approve of the UBP's performance since the General Election while another election now would see the PLP win more heavily than it did last December, according to a survey by Research.bm which showed 29 percent of people would vote UBP while 39 percent would vote PLP.

But Mr. Swan doesn't believe the public is annoyed with the UBP's naval gazing and he refuses to say when that will be over and done or what agreement, if any, has been reached so far.

"People only get impatient about it when they read about it. A disciplined party needs to take care of its own business internally."

It might seem to be taking a long time but Mr. Swan says: "It is better to measure twice and cut once. You can't talk forever. When you have reached a consensus then the work starts."

Clearly the delay is not something Mr. Swan relishes.

"I admit it's inward looking.The best part of the job is being out in the community interacting with people."

Some believe the reformers are winning against the party diehards but Mr. Swan doesn't like the labels and says they are not fair or accurate.

"Change is very much the buzzword in US elections but it is also something every political party has to address and I believe universally that we in the UBP want to make necessary, meaningful changes to make ourselves more viable."

"It's not a process which will happen overnight or please everyone."

• This interview was conducted prior to the release of research.bm's approval rating poll which revealed a drop in Mr. Swan's favourability, from 36 to 30 percent.