Neville Tyrrell was unveiled yesterday as the Progressive Labour Party candidate for Warwick South Central.

The former president of the Bermuda Football Association will face One Bermuda Alliance candidate Robyn Swan at the by-election for Constituency 26, set for December 20. They will compete for the seat left vacant by former PLP leader Marc Bean, who retired from politics this month.

At a press conference in Alaska Hall, the PLP’s headquarters in Hamilton, Opposition leader David Burt called Mr Tyrrell “a true community servant” who had lived in Warwick for 40 years.

He praised the candidate for his extensive work on government boards, including the Race Relations Council, the Sports Development Council and the CedarBridge Academy board of governors.

Mr Tyrrell, who retired from Colonial Pensions Services Ltd in 2014, spoke of his passion for technical education and claimed that as an MP he would also address issues such as care for seniors and infrastructure.

He added that his two primary concerns for Bermuda were education and employment. A lot of constituents have children and grandchildren, just like I do, and they’re worried about the future,” he said.

A member of the Hamilton Rotary Club, Mr Tyrrell said he based his ethical decisions on three Rotarian principles: “Service above self, is it the truth and is it fair to all concerned?”

He added: “I will therefore speak on the floor of the House with a clear conscience.”

In Warwick South Central, he resolved to clean up the “deplorable” condition of Bulkhead Drive and addressed the need for more lighting at night in certain areas.

Mr Tyrrell previously ran for the Devonshire East seat in the 2012 General Election against Bob Richards, with the Deputy Premier winning 460-340.

Mr Burt said that the PLP was building “a team that possesses a combination of youth and experience” and said that Mr Tyrrell had been the strongest of several applicants for the role.

Ewart Brown, the former Premier who held the seat in Constituency 26 before Mr Bean won in the 2010 by-election, said that December 20 offered the PLP a “great opportunity” to further strengthen its position there. “The relationship that I enjoyed there was one of the highlights of my political career,” Dr Brown added.

“It is a true cross-section of Bermuda.”

Dr Brown said that his own conversations with voters there led him to believe that their concerns mirrored those elsewhere in the island: “Economic opportunity through meaningful employment, upward mobility in the private-sector workplace and a relevant, first-class education for their young people.”