The battle for the leadership of the Progressive Labour Party took a personal twist as David Burt, the Premier, and Curtis Dickinson finally faced each other in the only head-to-head debate of the campaign on Saturday night.

Mr Burt appeared to take a swipe at his former finance minister’s banking background as Mr Dickinson insisted that people were worse off now than five years ago.

Mr Dickinson accused the premier of fighting for his job as opposed to Bermuda’s future.

The ex-minister said attacks on him in the contest for the PLP’s leadership had been “outrageous”, while the premier suggested his opponent lacked the ability to connect with the party’s base.

The media, and members of the public, were banned from the single leadership debate of the contest to be premier of the island, but The Royal Gazette gained access to a recording of much of the debate.

Mr Burt appeared to try to emphasise Mr Dickinson’s career in international finance, stating: “A vote for me is a vote for a leader who is not just comfortable in the boardrooms of Pitts Bay Road, and not just comfortable in Washington DC and the Capitol Building, or in London, in Whitehall, or in Paris, but a leader who is comfortable at Devonshire Recreation Club and the Somerset Cricket Club.”

Mr Dickinson insisted he came from a humble background and adhered to “PLP values”.

He said: “Over the course of this campaign there have been efforts to portray me as something that I am not – ‘he’s an out of touch banker, he’s conservative, he’s new to the party’ – all untrue.

“My success has been built on the foundations of PLP values. The notion that I would forget that is outrageous.

“The party leader is fighting to keep his job. I’m fighting to build Bermuda.

“If you ask yourself ‘are you better off today than you were five years ago’, sadly, you wouldn’t answer yes.

“We’re a big party. It’s how we share our differences, as opposed to how we exploit them that actually makes a difference.”

Mr Burt, who repeated that if he won it would be his last term as premier, insisted being party leader was about more than “balance sheets and ratings agencies”.

The Premier appeared to attack his opponent’s warning to the PLP’s top officials against becoming involved in ‘dirty tricks’ during the campaign after Mr Dickinson pulled out of the previously planned debate earlier in the campaign.

He said: “One of the disappointments that we have had in this election campaign is the hard working executive has been maligned.

“They have been called into question. And it has been really difficult for them when they are trying their best.”

Mr Dickinson talked about his complex upbringing, stating: “We must look at issues of family dysfunction. Alcohol and drug abuse. Institutional racism. Lack of opportunity. Lack of educational opportunities. Family separation, prior trauma and a lack of employment opportunities.

“As a family we have to deal with this issue personally. We are happy that we are on the other side of it. But I can tell you, while going through it was awful.

“And I can only imagine how bad it is for families who are still in the midst of this.”

Asked about the pressures on family units, Mr Burt said: “It is vital that we make the resources available.

“I know that it is something that we have had to go through, and many families have experienced.”

Mr Dickinson spoke up strongly for marriage equality.

He said: “We shouldn’t discriminate against people based on their sexual preference. We shouldn’t be doing anything to make people feel discriminated.

“As a Black man who worked on Wall Street, one of a handful of people who looked like me. It was awful. We need to be promoting inclusivity.

“As a father of a daughter, as a father of sons, I would no more want my children to be treated differently because of their sex as I would want them to be treated differently because of their sexuality. We need to do more, and do better.”

Mr Burt responded by saying the PLP had always had an open door to all members whatever their backgrounds.

The Premier insisted that he knew what the grassroots of the PLP wanted and had a proven track record of winning elections.

Mr Dickinson also insisted that a $50 million partial mortgage guarantee deal for first-time buyers launched by the Premier this week had been his idea.

The moderator of the debate noted the two men did not shake hands at the beginning of the event.

The leadership election will be decided by 122 PLP branch delegates and the 30 party MPs next Wednesday.

They will also vote on whether Walter Roban remains deputy leader, or ex-Cabinet minister Renée Ming replaces him.