Vance Campbell opens up: PLP’s ‘warring factions distract from serving the people’
The Progressive Labour Party is split by “warring factions” with David Burt’s leadership under scrutiny, according to former minister Vance Campbell who quit the ruling party this week.
The 63-year-old Smith’s West MP said the PLP was “good at politics but not very good at governing” and insisted that the One Bermuda Alliance could win the next General Election.
Mr Campbell also played down claims about him trying to change constituencies, suggesting that other PLP MPs were also exploring sitting in different seats.
On Monday, Mr Campbell, who had already resigned as a Cabinet minister, announced that he was leaving the PLP to join the OBA, saying his former party was no longer fit to govern.
In a wide-ranging interview today, he claimed that there was “turmoil” within the PLP.
Asked for specifics, he said: “There’s warring factions. Those who want David Burt gone as the leader and obviously his attempts to stay in power.”
Pressed on what he meant when he said the PLP was “not very good at governing”, Mr Campbell added: “Well, if you look at where the country was in 1998 and look at where it is now, has it changed much from an economic perspective?
“I think the economy [we] inherited in 1998 is not the economy we have now.”
Asked if 1998 was better, he replied: “Oh, definitely.”
He said he realised the island had faced huge issues such as the 2008 worldwide financial collapse and the Covid-19 pandemic — and had recovered well.
However, he added: “There have been warring factions since the last internal election that have caused grave distractions from serving the people.”
In October 2022, Mr Burt beat a challenge from Curtis Dickinson for the PLP leadership, with the factions stemming from that episode, Mr Campbell said.
Posts on social media claimed that Vance Campbell, the MP for Constituency 9, had:
• Attempted to move to Constituency 15, a seat to be vacated by Deputy Premier Walter Roban when he steps down at the next General Election, without telling his C9 branch and that his move was rejected by C15
• Attempted to remain as candidate for C9 but was informed that the branch no longer had confidence in him because of his attempt to leave for C15
• Joined the OBA without informing his branch executive and constituents
While Mr Campbell admitted he had tried to go to C15, he added: “There are at least two [MPs] that I can recall trying to do the same … leave the seat that they’re in and join another constituency.
“I wonder if they’re being vilified as I am for doing the same?”
He added: “I will take this opportunity to set the record straight that my resignation from being a minister and my subsequent decisions had no bearing on what happened in C15.”
Mr Campbell said he had advised the C9 branch chairman that he had put his name in the hat for C15.
“I did not inform the branch in writing, but I advised the chairman of the branch verbally in a meeting that we had.”
Mr Campbell said the C9 branch never informed him that it did not want him back.
Asked if he had been given an indication that he was no longer welcome in C9, Mr Campbell added: “I had never been given the indication in any way, shape or form.”
Asked if someone was trying to discredit him, Mr Campbell said: “I would leave that for the public to determine.”
When he announced his decision to join the OBA, Mr Campbell said that in politics “there are some who put their own personal agenda before our country; they place the interests of the individual before the interests of the island”.
Asked to expand on that, the former Minister of the Cabinet Office said: “When you refuse or have not put your personal interests aside so that the party can be more unified, when you fail to be able to bridge the gap between factions within the party, I would say that your personal interests are taking precedence.”
Pressed on whether that was the personal interest of PLP MPs, Mr Campbell said: “That is correct.”
Asked if it was Mr Burt, he added: “I will not answer specific to individuals, but one of my major factors in my decision was leadership.”
Put to him that leadership could include the Cabinet, he said: “It is David Burt.”
He added: “It’s his leadership style, but I will not go into any details.”
The Government has still not announced who will replace Vance Campbell as Minister of the Cabinet Office — more than three weeks after he stepped down.
Mr Campbell was appointed to the post in October 2022, but resigned on August 1 — the same day that Kathy Lynn Simmons, left her posts as Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Reform.
On August 7, Kim Wilson was officially sworn in as Ms Simmons’s replacement. However, Mr Campbell’s successor has still to be confirmed.
Last Friday, a government spokeswoman said that an announcement concerning the Minister for the Cabinet Office was expected to be made over the weekend.
The Royal Gazette also contacted Government House to ask Rena Lalgie, the Governor, if an appointment had been made. No response has been received.
As a minister, Mr Campbell was critical of the OBA, writing opinion articles accusing the party of issues such as fighting against the introduction of a minimum wage or threatening to slash jobs in the Public Service.
Mr Campbell said: “I was defending the decisions of the Government. Even though I had misgivings at that time, I was being a team player and defending those decisions that had been made by the Government.
“Later, I was no longer prepared to do that.”
Despite the criticisms, Mr Campbell said it had not affected his relationship with the OBA and said the “reception from the parliamentary team has been fantastic”.
He attended his first OBA caucus meeting on Tuesday. He said he was made to feel welcome, although he admitted there might be party members who would be cautious about accepting him.
Mr Campbell is adamant that he would not be giving the OBA any information on internal PLP issues.
He said: “I made that clear and people would be surprised that the response back was that ‘we have no intentions of asking you’.”
With the Free Democratic Movement becoming more active, and with former premier Sir John Swan encouraging independents to stand, why did he choose the OBA?
Mr Campbell said: “I see the OBA as a team.
“What makes a team in this scenario is the overriding principles that bring them together.”
At the last General Election, Mr Campbell defeated OBA candidate Vic Ball by only 29 votes in Smith’s West.
He has yet to reach out to PLP voters in the constituency, and admits that would be difficult.
Mr Campbell added: “That’s something that I knew I would have to deal with and I am prepared to deal with. You know, there will be some who will, potentially, never forgive me for this.
“There will be some that may be able to come to an understanding as to why I did it. But that’s all going to require time.“
Despite the PLP’s advantage as the party that until recently held a 30-seat majority, Mr Campbell remains convinced the OBA can come away victorious at the polls.
“They’ve gone through their own internal transformation,” he said. “They’ve understood why they have not performed well in recent elections and they’ve done a great job in just refocusing and redefining the party.
“This is about looking forward and joining a team that I feel has the best interest of Bermuda at heart.”
Asked where his future lay politically, Mr Campbell was adamant: “As a sitting MP with the One Bermuda Alliance.”
• To listen to the full interview, see the audio file
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