Premiers' short reigns

Craig Cannonier’s stint as Premier was the shortest in Bermuda history. Mr Cannonier served just 517 days in office before resigning on Monday night. Prior to that, Dr David Saul held the dubious honour at 580 days, although Dame Pamela Gordon and Sir John Sharpe both served just slightly longer than him.

Dame Jennifer Smith holds the record for being both the longest-serving PLP Premier and the longest-serving woman.

Sir John Swan holds the record of being the longest serving Premier at 4,971 days. He stepped down in August 1995 after the referendum for independence was voted down by a three-to-one margin, or could have surpassed the 5,000-day mark. 

Sir John Swan served longer than Mr Cannonier, Dr Saul, Dame Pamela, Sir John Sharpe, Paula Cox and Alex Scott did combined and you could have doubled Mr Cannonier’s term in office and still had nearly 200 days to spare.

Premier/Leader Party Days

1. Craig Cannonier OBA 517

2. Dr David Saul UBP 580

3. Dame P. Gordon UBP 593

4. Sir John Sharpe UBP 610

5. Paula Cox PLP 780

6. Alex Scott PLP 1,189

7. Sir Henry Tucker UBP 1,295

8. Sir ET Richards UBP 1,461

9. Dr Ewart Brown PLP 1,462

10. Sir D. Gibbons UBP 1,599

11. Dame Jen. Smith PLP 1,722

12. Sir John Swan UBP 4,971