NEW LEADERSHIP LOOMS FOR BERMUDA

Bermuda is on the verge of a top-level leadership change.

Premier David Burt has confirmed he will fulfil an election - and family - promise made during the 2025 campaign to step down as the territory’s top political leader.

Premier Burt led the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) to a decisive victory in the 2025 poll, securing a third consecutive term as Premier. The PLP won 25 of the 36 seats, despite dropping five seats from the 2020 election. Bermuda went to the polls in 2017, held a snap election in 2020, and had a full-term election in 2025. Elections are held every five years.

While citing family considerations, the outgoing Bermuda Premier has stated that he is not altogether quitting politics.

Mr Burt, who will demit the Office of the Premier and leadership of the PLP on November 2nd, will remain in the Bermuda House of Assembly as a backbencher for his party, focusing on serving his constituency during the remainder of the parliamentary term.

Alongside Mr Burt’s pending resignation is the issue of who will replace him in the internal party and national constitutional processes for such a major internal transition of power.

The leadership change is expected to be effected when the PLP holds its annual party convention later this month.

It also comes at a time of recent significant changes in the wider Bermuda political directorate, especially within the main opposition One Bermuda Alliance(OBA). That party has had seven leadership changes since 2017: two between 2020 and 2025 and two in just over the past year. The current OBA and Opposition Leader is Ben Smith.

Premier Burt has indicated that he is stepping down on a high note.

He presented his administration’s fiscal report on October 2nd, showing a stronger-than-expected fiscal and economic performance for the 2025/2026 financial year, with the government recording a strong surplus.

He also indicated that this will be his key legacy - leaving the Bermuda economy and government finances in a better position than the deficit he met when he first took office in 2017.

“When this Government took office in 2017, Bermuda was running significant annual deficits. The previous Government’s budget projected a deficit of $135 million, net debt stood at $2.4 billion, and workers faced the highest payroll tax rates in our history,” Premier Burt stated in the address to the Assembly.

Referring to “the successful execution of Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan”, Mr Burt stated that Bermuda has returned to economic growth with unemployment falling to its lowest level in more than half a century. He said the Government had moved from borrowing to fund annual deficits to “being in a position to reduce debt and make greater investments in our people and our infrastructure”.

According to Mr Burt, based on the preliminary 2025/26 financial performance analysis, total revenue for fiscal year 2025/26 is projected at $1.57 billion, which is $143.5 million (10.0%) above the original 2025/26 estimate of $1.43 billion. He also disclosed that the preliminary analysis projects a budget surplus of $169.6 million for 2025/26, which is $126.3 million above the original budget estimate of $43.3 million, or almost four times the surplus originally projected.

Mr Burt, who is also the Minister of Finance, is expected to update the report with projections for 2026/2027 when the Assembly resumes on November 2nd, following which he will officially demit office.