The departure of Kathy Lynn Simmons as the MP for Sandys North, who resigned this week, has been welcomed as a “relief” by the One Bermuda Alliance.

A statement from Jarion Richardson, the Leader of the Opposition, took aim at Ms Simmons’s tenure as the parliamentary representative for Constituency 36, and said that the area had fallen into a “sad, deplorable state” since her election to the seat in 2020.

The ruling Progressive Labour Party highlighted her work as “the longest-serving political Attorney-General in Bermuda’s history”.

The party called her retirement as Attorney-General, a post Ms Simmons has held since her appointment to the Senate in 2017, a cause for “gratitude and sadness” after a career of “justice, quality and the protection of Bermuda’s most vulnerable citizens”.

The PLP noted Ms Simmons enacting comprehensive legislation to manage sex offenders and adding tougher sentences and protection against the sexual exploitation of minors. She also led the introduction of legislation protecting victims of “revenge porn”.

Ms Simmons was thanked for restoring pupillages in her ministry for legal training and reforming the procedure for selecting jurors, as well as the implementation of a litigation guardian framework to support children involved in legal proceedings.

The former attorney-general was further credited for implementing pathways for no-fault divorce and the expungement of criminal records for possession of cannabis.

At the time she was announced as the PLP candidate for Sandys North in September 2020, shortly before the last General Election, Ms Simmons vowed to give the constituency the same care to she did to her ministry.

Mr Richardson maintained that Ms Simmons had fallen short, however, claiming: “Closed businesses, trees growing out of buildings, roads overgrown with weeds, overextended local policing and antisocial conduct are now everywhere in what was a thriving community.”

He added: “There’s been a general neglect of the community and their needs.”

The OBA criticised Ms Simmons for keeping her distance from the controversy over the proposed closure of West End Primary School in favour of Somerset Primary School under school reforms, which pitted supporters of the former, an historically Black school seen as a hub of their community, against the PLP in an area that has traditionally backed the party.

Ultimately, after a re-evaluation of school criteria, the decision was reversed, with the parent-teacher association of Somerset Primary defending the school’s performance and lamenting the “divide” the issue had caused in the community.

Mr Richardson said this week: “We note that during the whole school closing debate, Somerset was left to fend for themselves as their Member of Parliament sat quietly on the sidelines.

“The prize that is the West End is choked with evidence of failed policies. We are glad that the former attorney-general has stepped down from C36 — now we can focus on rebuilding Somerset.”