2017 Bermudian general election


General elections were held in Bermuda on 18 July 2017 to elect all 36 members to the House of Assembly. The result was a victory for the opposition Progressive Labour Party, which won 24 of the 36 seats. Incumbent Premier Michael Dunkley subsequently resigned as leader of the One Bermuda Alliance. Bob Richards, a senior minister and deputy premier in Dunkley's government unexpectedly lost his Devonshire East seat.

Background

Under section 49 of the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968, the Parliament of Bermuda must be dissolved by the Governor five years after its first meeting following the previous elections. Under section 51 of the Constitution, a general election must be held no later than three months after a dissolution. As the first meeting of the parliament elected in December 2012 took place on 8 February 2013, meaning parliament would have needed to be dissolved before midnight on 7 February 2018 for elections to take place before 7 May 2018.
However, after the ruling One Bermuda Alliance lost its majority in the House of Assembly when two of its MPs left to sit as independents, the opposition Progressive Labour Party proposed a vote of no-confidence which was scheduled for 9 June 2017. Dunkley pre-empted the vote on 8 June 2017 by asking the Governor to dissolve the House and call elections for 18 July 2017.

Campaign

The PLP was widely considered to have run on a populist platform, highlighting peoples' disenchantment with the political system. The campaign had been compared to the UK Independence Party and Donald Trump's electoral campaigns. The party's campaign slogan was "Let's Put Bermudians First".
In contrast, the OBA had campaigned on its economic record in government, using the slogan "Forward Together, Not Back".

Results