A Progressive Labour Party MP whose departure from Cabinet was announced yesterday by David Burt, the Premier, has resigned as the representative for Sandys North (Constituency 36).

Kathy Lynn Simmons had already stepped down as the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Reform alongside Cabinet Office minister Vance Campbell.

However, Dennis Lister, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, confirmed this afternoon that Ms Simmons has also departed as a Member of Parliament.

The move comes with swift electoral consequences: under the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968, any MP vacating their seat for any reason other than the dissolution of the legislature would trigger a by-election within two months.

The exception would be whether the legislature were to be dissolved sooner than that date, which occurs when a General Election is called.

The other exception under the Constitution, which would not come into play, would be the determined by the five-year mark from the first sitting of the legislature after a General Election — in this case, October 2025.

If a by-election were to proceed, it would mark the island’s third in less than 12 months.

Smith’s North voters chose Robert King in May after a three-way contest for the seat with Lindsay Simmons, of the PLP, and Sir John Swan, the former premier, who threw his hat in the ring as an independent.

It was prompted by Michael Dunkley, the former premier, stepping down from politics.

Similarly, the resignation last year of Cole Simons, the former Leader of the Opposition, sparked the October 2023 by-election for his seat in Smith’s South.

It was retained by the One Bermuda Alliance when Ben Smith won the constituency handily against the PLP challenger Mischa Fubler.

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Resignation of MP Lightbourne-Simmons.pdf

• To read the Speaker’s letter, see Related Media