The man who banged the drum for change but was left behind by the defecting reformists, the United Bermuda Party is a lonely place for Trevor Moniz right now.

And the deputy leader doesn't expect to be getting many pats on the back from his remaining UBP colleagues when they read his comments in the paper today.

This is the maverick politician who says his calls for change in meetings are routinely greeted with put-downs from senior members like: "You don't have to listen to Trevor!"

He should be used to it. Mr. Moniz joined the UBP two decades ago to try to effect change and believes he has seen precious little happen so far. But just because his calls have fallen on deaf ears to date it doesn't mean he's ready to give up just yet.

Shawn Crockwell, Donte Hunt and Mark Pettingill may have been the young guns to quit to start their own party, but they weren't the only ones pushing for a transformation as the UBP licked its wounds following yet another election defeat in December 2007.

"They came and met here in my office," Mr. Moniz told The Royal Gazette. "I was part of that group. John Barritt sat in, Wayne Furbert, Darius Tucker, along with the three that left. We had a committee called the Way Forward chaired by Wayne Scott."

Studies carried out after the election painted a grim picture for the UBP, said Mr. Moniz.

The voting patterns of the Country, based mainly on race, mean that under the new electoral system, 18 of the House of Assembly's 36 seats are Progressive Labour Party bankers; ten are strong UBP; the other eight are up for grabs.

The way things stand, said Mr. Moniz, the best the UBP can do is win all eight marginals and force an 18-18 tie.

He said: "How can we break that? How can we make a political group, be it the UBP or some new group, more palatable to a greater number of blacks?

"The UBP was split into two camps: reformers and conservatives. Reformers say in order to break that paradigm you have to make some major changes: the old guard going, name change, bring in ex PLP people.

"Conservatives say we have to protect what we have. We have to protect and defend that position. We must march on, stay as UBP, hold onto the seats we have got.

"Even now, the conservative point of view is leave these guys (the defectors) out there. Let them swing in the breeze. They will eventually disappear. We will be a pure UBP with 11 seats and we have got rid of these rebels. Then they say we will rebuild."

However, having accepted leader Kim Swan's invitation to become deputy leader last year, Mr. Moniz said he began to drift away from the reformist group.

He believes they felt his position as a reformer was compromised because he was Mr. Swan's deputy; some may argue the young rebels did not want their new party to be tarnished with one of the UBP's oldest faces as they moved for a fresh start.

Old face or not, Mr. Moniz said his mindset on the way forward could not be more different than those in the conservative group — traditionally Mr. Swan, Bob Richards, Grant Gibbons, Louise Jackson, Patricia Gordon-Pamplin and Cole Simons.

"They hope that the electorate will see the PLP is not the best and that they will come back and vote UBP. They don't see a shift in voting patterns," he said.

"I can only speak for myself, but John Barritt and I are in with an overwhelming group of conservatives. I'm being shouted at again.

"There are still people in the party who want to see me gone. They view me as a radical."

Mr. Moniz said some UBP MPs seem proud of a culture of secrecy, that what happens in the caucus room stays in the caucus room.

Yet they're quick to point the finger at Government for its lack of transparency.

"It's a little word called hypocrisy," he said. "We have a lot of that in our community."

That is just one of the things the party needs to change, he explained: "I honestly believe that the lack of support in the community for the UBP is because the UBP does not reflect what a majority of the electorate want.

"I really believe we have to change. I don't believe it's a perception problem.

"I didn't spend hundreds of hours on these reports because it's a PR job. We really have to change. That's been true for 20 years.

"It's not something superficial like rebranding. It's something that has to be deep and meaningful. It's hard to do that without criticising the party.

"We don't operate in an inclusive fashion. I don't think our outreach works. We're having trouble getting people across the Country into branch committees.

"Our whole structure is not functioning properly. It's just not efficient. People join, get put in position, get frustrated and leave. They feel what they are saying is not being listened to. There's an inertia.

"People say: 'I'm not hanging around here any more.' People who should be loyal to us say they are having no effect and are leaving.

"We need changes from changing the name to how do you select the leader (who is currently selected by the parliamentary group).

"All these things are being talked about, but it doesn't seem to make any difference."

After so long with nothing happening, the catalyst for change could end up being the fallout from the past few days which has heaped so much embarrassment on the party. Mr. Moniz says Mr. Swan and some others are finally beginning to embrace that something dramatic needs to be done.

"Whatever views people have, something has to give," said Mr. Moniz. "The only thing not clear in my mind is what colleagues in the group understand what change is.

"I still feel I have an obligation as deputy leader. I still feel there's a possibility that something will be achieved. In one sense, you leave the dance with the one you brought with out.

"I commit to giving my best shot. I don't think my best shot is finished yet. I feel I'm making progress."