The appointment of ultra-loyalist Owen Darrell to the Cabinet could suggest that David Burt, the Premier, is trying to tighten his grip on power after the bruising Progressive Labour Party leadership battle which he won — but not overwhelmingly.

Mr Darrell’s elevation to replace the respected Ernest Peets as Minister for Youth, Culture and Sport, and Government Leader of the Senate is, at least in part, reward for being one of the Premier’s loudest cheerleaders.

Although, also, one of the loudest voices in the Upper Chamber, Mr Darrell’s contributions often come across as rants rather than rhetoric.

His interventions mainly seem to consist of attacks on the last One Bermuda Alliance government, even as that party’s time in power slips ever farther into the rear-view mirror.

However, Mr Burt, who fended off Curtis Dickinson for the PLP leadership by 97 delegate votes to 56, is clearly taken with the senator, his now former Chief of Staff, as he heaped praise on him at the ministerial signing-in ceremony at Government House.

Only time will tell if Mr Darrell, a former teacher, will learn the lesson to tone it down in the Senate, or whether his role is really to rile the class on Mr Burt’s behalf.