The chairman of the Free Democratic Movement has pledged to keep his party moving forward after another unsuccessful election cycle.

Omar Dill, who ran in Pembroke West Central (Constituency 18), summed the FDM’s direction with a single word — “continue”.

“[We will] continue to communicate, continue to canvas and continue to advocate for our constituents,” he explained.

Mr Dill added: “That’s what the constituents have asked for specifically — ‘make sure that you continue.’

“We don’t know the future of where we should be, but I think all of the island will agree we’re in a better place right now than we have been in the past.”

The FDM, who ran this year with ten candidates, walked away with 949 votes across the island, or 3.8 per cent of the total ballots cast, and ultimately no seats.

Mr Dill faced off against David Burt, the Premier and Progressive Labour Party leader, and Nicky Gurret, of the One Bermuda Alliance.

Mr Burt held the seat with 444 votes, winning against Ms Gurret with 140 votes and Mr Dill with 113.

Mr Dill admitted he did not expect his party to win all ten seats, but was happy that his party fought a hard race against a dominant governing party.

He explained: “We’re talking about a party that won 30 seats in the last election and we challenged them in all of their bigger seats.”

He added: “Going forward, we’re happy with what we’ve come out with. I won more votes than the FDM won in 2020 in that particular seat.

“We’re comfortable and confident that the journey continues.”

Mr Dill said that his party was “not at the feeling stage right now” and would take a few days to process the results before moving forward.

He added that his colleagues were “relieved” that the election was over because the last several weeks had been “very demanding”.

The FDM was created in 2020 by Marc Bean, a former PLP Opposition leader.

The group first ran in that year’s General Election with 14 candidates, but were unsuccessful in their campaign.

Mr Bean said yesterday that he was content with the results because they reflected the will of the public.

“That’s what democracy is,” Mr Bean said. “For those of us who are seeking to become more effective as an opposition, we just have to do more work, be more consistent and ensure that we are present over the long term.”