A pastor who leads the Government’s gang violence reduction programme was this afternoon confirmed as the Progressive Labour Party’s candidate for Hamilton East (Constituency 5).

Leroy Bean will make a bid for the seat won by Derrick Burgess, whose retirement from politics was announced this week.

The head of Transfiguration Ministries has been at the helm of the Government’s Gang Violence Reduction Team since 2017.

He ran as a PLP candidate in the 2012 election for St George’s South, which was won by Suzann Roberts-Holshouser, of the One Bermuda Alliance.

Mr Burgess won Hamilton East for the PLP in the 2020 General Election with 641 votes.

Desmond Crockwell, of the Free Democratic Movement, secured 114 votes in that poll and the OBA’s Elizabeth Deacon took 105.