The bid to change the Progressive Labour Party leadership will step up a gear tonight when former Cabinet minister Renée Ming goes head-to-head with Walter Roban, the Deputy Premier, in the first debate of the campaign.

David Burt, the Premier, and his challenger, Curtis Dickinson, were meant to face each other on Saturday, but the former finance minister refused to take part as he signalled the situation was rigged against him.

As the contest becomes increasingly tense, Mr Dickinson insisted he is not part of a formal ticket with Ms Ming, but the two share a desire for change in the PLP.

The Premier and his former Cabinet colleague are scheduled to debate each other on Saturday after the last-minute cancellation of their previous planned encounter.

Mr Dickinson said that assurances he was given about the format of the event had not been met.

His supporters also questioned whether Mr Burt had been given a list of the 122 delegates who will decide the outcome of the contest before the former finance minister received access to it on October 3.

Mr Burt has insisted he was given details of the delegates the day after Mr Dickinson.

Ms Ming and Mr Roban have remained tight-lipped before their debate, which paves the way for leadership votes at the PLP conference on October 20.

That event will see 122 delegates selected by individual party branches and the 30 PLP MPs decide who gets the top jobs.

Mr Dickinson has warned the PLP top brass not to engage in a “dirty tricks” campaign against him.

He urged the party not to “fall prey” to underhand practices.

In other developments, Mr Dickinson said he supported independence for Bermuda and marriage equality.

In an interview with Media Maya, he said that people needed to be informed about what independence would actually mean for the island.

Mr Dickinson said: “I think that we as a government have an obligation to start a process of educating people about what independence means for them.”

On same-sex marriage, he said: “I am a person who has lived in New York, I’ve lived in London, I’ve lived in what I would consider to be progressive environments.

“My own view would be that people should be allowed to choose for themselves.”

Ms Ming left Cabinet in March as she and the Premier engaged in a public spat over her departure.

The former minister insisted she had resigned while Mr Burt said he had dismissed her.