Bascome set to challenge Dame Jennifer again

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10: St George’s Mayor Kenneth Bascome will be unveiled this week as the One Bermuda Alliance candidate for the marginal St George’s North seat, the Bermuda Sun can reveal.

The selection of Mr Bascome — who came within 25 votes of beating former Premier and Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith in the 2007 General Election when he stood for the UBP — ends months of speculation on who would fight the seat for the new OBA.

Mr Bascome on Monday refused to comment on whether he would fight the seat.

But it is understood that he has been won over by the Opposition in what is seen as a key seat in the party’s bid to unseat the Progressive Labour Party.

Political pundits told the Bermuda Sun that Mr Bascome — who came within eight votes of winning as a UBP candidate in 2003, a result which may have helped PLP rebels remove the now-Dame Jennifer as Premier — was best-placed to take the seat.

One observer, with ties to the PLP, said: “If St George’s Mayor Kenny Bascome runs for the OBA, that will be a loss for the PLP.”

Another pundit, with links to the Opposition, agreed the next election could spell the end of the political career of the veteran politician who led her party to its historic first victory in 1998.

Resign?

Mr Bascome — a cheerleader for the Old Town and a campaigner for its rebirth as a business and tourism centre — could face having to resign as Mayor.

The Bermuda Constitution forbids anyone who already holds public office from serving in the House of Assembly — although there may be some doubt as to whether the position of Mayor is a public office, as opposed to a Civil Servant or a member of the Bermuda Regiment.

Mr Bascome told The Royal Gazette in July that he was considering running for Parliament — and that he had been courted by both the OBA and PLP.