While adversarial politics is the inevitable nature of Bermuda’s system of government, developing a code of conduct for MPs is a high priority.

The remarks came from Randy Horton, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, as delegates for the area branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association prepared to return home from their four-day meeting in Bermuda.

Mr Horton said the main aim of the event had been “to get Speakers of the region together to pool their intelligence — to get Speakers, clerks and presidents of the Senate to talk about their challenges”.

“It’s about professional development,” Mr Horton added, noting that a major theme of the biennial conference had been the importance of the impartiality of the Speakership — of “being consistent, no matter what the outcome is”.

Acknowledging that recent sessions of Parliament had at times been rancorous, Mr Horton said: “Most people tend to agree that Parliament is a place that is set up for an adversarial situation.

“What’s important is the respect that members show each other. That points to the importance of a code of conduct.

“You’re not going to stop adversarial politics; it’s the nature of politics. If there are differences, it’s about how the differences are handled.”

The Speaker said parliamentarians “have a responsibility, when handling differences, to handle them in a proper manner and not in a manner which is demeaning to the credibility of other members”.

“We want young people to be looking at the House and feeling good about the people who are there,” he added.

“It’s important to question; that’s what we’re there for. Parliament is there to hold the executive to account. It should always be done within the rules of the House.”

A critical point raised during the conference was the lack of resources hampering the ability of parliaments to act efficiently.

“There is so much work for the clerk and assistant to do, it makes it very difficult to provide the level of service to committees that is needed,” Mr Horton said.

A practical concern was the maintenance of the ageing Sessions House: although visitors were taken with its appearance, Mr Horton said: “It’s beautiful, but in some places it’s falling to pieces.”

Carol Ann Bassett, the president of the Senate, said the feedback from attendees about the Island’s handling of the conference had been “wonderful — they had nothing but good things to say”.