Former United Bermuda Party MP Jon Brunson will face off against Health Minister Zane DeSilva in the upcoming General Election.One Bermuda Alliance leader Craig Cannonier formally announced Mr Brunson’s candidacy for district 29, Southampton East.at a press conference yesterday.Mr Brunson said that he is returning to politics because Government had neglected things that he believes in.“As a single father that has actively participated in raising two fantastic young adults I believe that a strong family structure is vital to our success,” he said.“For the family to succeed it needs some essential components to survive.“Today, the family is wounded and struggling just to make it to the next day, have a roof over their head, to feed their children and put food on the table — the truth is times are hard and getting harder.”Mr Brunson added that Government had a responsibility to look after the Island’s financial health and well-being.“Are we better off today than we were five years ago? Are the policies and decisions made by the Government moving us in the right direction?“Has there been reasonable explanation by the Government as to how things will get better?“We cannot afford to stick our head in the sand anymore. Things have to change in order for things to improve.”He said he believed that technical education should be revived and law enforcement should be provided the tools to do their job.Mr Brunson said his decision to become a candidate was finalised just two days before yesterday morning’s press conference.It was pointed out to Mr Cannonier that he had repeatedly said over the last few months that a candidate had been selected for every district.Mr Cannonier said: “You have to understand that this is a process.”Mr Brunson had joined the party and put in his application to be a candidate “a long time ago”, he said.“That final decision for him was a couple of days ago but we had already made our decision on the direction that we wished to go. So I’m excited that now it’s come to culmination.”An avid sportsman, Mr Brunson has most recently been in the news as co-founder of Saving Children and Revealing Secrets, a child sexual abuse prevention charity.He was first elected under the UBP banner to represent Southampton West Central, or district 31, in the 2003 general election when he collected 496 votes against the PLP’s Michael Scott who scored 367.In 2007, Southampton West Central voters sent him back to Parliament with 548 votes against Marc Bean’s 406 votes.Mr Brunson stepped down in 2008 and was replaced by the UBP’s Charles Swan, when a by-election was held in December that year.Mr DeSilva first entered Parliament in 2007, ousting United Bermuda Party MP David Dodwell from the Southampton East Central seat with a 48 vote majority.Boundary changes which moved about 400 of his constituents led him to seek re-election as a Southampton East MP for the coming election.Longtime MP House Speaker Stanley Lowe, the current MP for Southampton East, is retiring from politics.