Kim Swan's seen more than a third of his party's MPs walk away, publicly come under fire from members who have stayed, and scored the worst ratings of any political leader in five years — no wonder it was the job nobody else wanted.

But the effects of steering the United Bermuda Party through two of the most perilous years in its history have not left Mr. Swan down and out; he wants to carry on fighting the battle.

Anyone who saw his rallying cry at a special UBP meeting called in the aftermath of September's high-profile defections could not fault the former professional golfer's passion for the task of bringing his beloved party back from its lowest ebb.

Unfortunately there were only 13 supporters there to see an animated Mr. Swan use his hands, arms and props, including a briefcase and jacket, to illustrate the need for the UBP to roll up its sleeves and cast aside its elitist image.

The poor turnout indicated just how low morale has stooped within the UBP and was dwarfed by attendance at recent constituency meetings held by individual MPs Wayne Furbert and John Barritt.

Mr. Swan was criticised by his deputy Trevor Moniz for the failure to push through reform blamed for the departures of Mr. Furbert, Darius Tucker, Shawn Crockwell, Donte Hunt and Mark Pettingill. The leader was initially said to be firmly in a camp of non-reformists in the UBP, but after the turmoil of September he now claims he has become the UBP's number one advocate for change.

Despite favourability ratings plummeting as low as 19 percent following the humiliating failure of the vote of no confidence in Premier Ewart Brown, Mr. Swan is still regarded as a likeable and popular man of the people — but many believe his inability to prevent the turmoil of the past two years makes it time for somebody else to have a go.

His loyalty to the party has never been in question. He first stood as a candidate in 1983 and kept trying at the polls until he finally won a seat in St. George's in 2007.

And when Mr. Barritt pulled out of the running at the last minute during the leadership battle shortly after the General Election defeat two years ago, Mr. Swan was the only person to put himself forward to fill the gap.