An independent candidate running in next month’s General Election was inspired to enter politics in part by her late brother.

Juanae Crockwell announced her candidacy for Constituency 31, Southampton West Central, at a press conference this morning.

Ms Crockwell said: “My political mentor is my brother, the late Shawn Crockwell. He was the MP for this area up until 2017 and of course he passed in 2017.

“So having a front-row seat to his political journey significantly impacted my decision to run as an independent candidate.

“Of course I am grateful to have support of other independent candidates, other former political figures, but my decision to run as an independent is entirely my decision.

“This goes back to 2015 and I’m quite proud to say that my brother, in his last days, sat in the houses of Parliament as an independent.

“I believe that a lot of that came from my advocacy and my holding him accountable and my asking him if he really thinks that party politics is the answer.

“That’s how I’ve ended up here.”

Mr Crockwell served as a minister in the One Bermuda Alliance after the party won the General Election of December 2012.

However, he quit the party in March 2016, subsequently serving as an independent MP until his death in June, 2017.

This morning Ms Crockwell explained why she opted to run as an independent candidate rather than join one of the main parties.

She said: “This decision has not been made lightly. I have been contemplating this step since 2015.

“At that time, my children were still very young — just four and one — and I was in the midst of personal and professional transitions.

“Over the last decade, I have enthusiastically followed Bermuda’s political landscape.

“Through social media, I have worked to break down our parliamentary system for voters, provide updates on parliamentary proceedings, and offer non-partisan commentary on party platforms and election coverage.

“I have studied Bermuda’s political parties — PLP, UBP, OBA, and now FDM — and even considered involvement. But time and time again, I have come to the same conclusion — party politics is no longer serving Bermuda or her people.”

The executive director of the Women’s Resource Centre added: “As a student of history, I understand the critical role that political parties played in Bermuda’s past.

“The formation of the Progressive Labour Party in the 1960s was a necessary step towards equity within our parliamentary system, and the United Bermuda Party emerged as a response.

“At that time, this approach was essential for social and political progress.

“However, today, the party system has outlived its usefulness.

“Instead of fostering progress and unity, it often stifles innovation and deepens the divisions that plague our small island home.

“What was once the solution has now become the problem.

“I believe it is my generation’s turn to drive positive political change.

“Just as the suffragettes, the organisers of the Bermuda Theatre Boycott — the Progressive Group — and other community advocates of the past wrote history, it is now our turn.

“We can continue on our current political and social trajectory, or we can come together to make the changes required for true and meaningful progress.

“For these reasons, and many more, I am putting myself forward as an agent of change.”