Politics of Bermuda


Bermuda is the oldest British Overseas Territory, and the oldest self-governing British Overseas Territory, and has a great degree of internal autonomy through authority and roles of governance delegated to it by the national Government. Its parliament held its first session in 1620, making it the third-oldest continuous parliament in the world. As part of the British realm, King Charles III is head of state and is represented in Bermuda by a Governor, whom he appoints on the advice of the British Government. The Governor has special responsibilities in four areas: external affairs, defence, internal security, and policing.
Internally, Bermuda is a parliamentary representative democratic dependency. The premier is the head of government, and there is a multi-party system. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is officially the responsibility of the sovereign government, but various military forces have been raised under local legislation, including the current Royal Bermuda Regiment.
Bermuda is represented by British delegations in the UN and its related agencies. The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation includes Bermuda on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.

History

The original system of government was created under the Virginia Company, which colonised Bermuda, accidentally in 1609, and deliberately from 1612. The Virginia Company lost its Royal Charter for its territory on the continent of North America in 1622, and the Crown assumed responsibility for the administration of the continental colony. Bermuda, however, passed in 1615 to a new company, The Somers Isles Company, formed by the same shareholders.
The colonial government was established in 1612 with the arrival of the first Governor of Bermuda, Richard Moore. Moore was actually the Lieutenant-Governor, under the Governor of Virginia. The office would remain a Lieutenant-Governorship under an overseas Governor until the revocation of the Royal Charter of the Somers Isles Company in 1684. Moore was also instructed to appoint a Counsell of Six to assist in the governance of the colony. The original form of local government that developed was similar to that of a County in England and Wales, with a number of prominent men appointed to key roles, such as the judiciary, Secretary, and Sherriff. As the trans-Atlantic colonies were too distant from the political centre at London for the national government to easily fill its role as it did within counties of England and Wales, the Governor was appointed to represent the English Government locally. The Governor was also appointed to fill the role performed in counties of England and Wales by the Lord-Lieutenant, in command of the local Militia, with this office titled Commander-in-Chief or Captain-General. The various appointed officers of the local government were also ex-officio members of the Council, a body that advised the Governor as the Privy Council of England advised the King, and that functioned as a Cabinet.
The elected House of Assembly was created in 1620 under that the Somers Isles Company, functioning as a Lower House of the Parliament of Bermuda with the Council acting as the Upper House until 1888, when the Council was split into an Executive Council and a Legislative Council as the Upper House. As there was originally no Deputy Governor, the President of The Council could find himself temporarily acting as Governor in the event of the absence, incapacitation or death of the Governor until the mid-19th Century, after which the senior military officer in Bermuda assumed the role of Officer Administering the Government during the absence of the Governor.
Voting was originally restricted to males, but there was no property qualification as virtually all private land in Bermuda belonged to absentees until the 1630s, when the falling profits of Bermudian tobacco led many of the Company's adventurers to sell their landholdings, usually to the agents or tenants who occupied them. When the numbers of non-white landowners began to increase, a minimum value was established for the properties which entitled their owners to vote. In 1960, this was £60. A man could vote in each parish in which he owned sufficiently valuable land – giving the richest whites as many as nine votes each if they so desired.
Since 1968 Bermuda has had a constitution that sets out its structure of government. The constitution provides the island with formal responsibility for internal self-government, while the British Government retains responsibility for external affairs, defence, and security. The Bermudian Government is always consulted on any international negotiations affecting the territory. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament. The party system is dominated by the Progressive Labour Party and the One Bermuda Alliance, while prior to 1998 it had been dominated by the United Bermuda Party.

Executive branch

The Governor is appointed by the Monarch. The Governor invites the leader of largest party in Parliament to form a government as Premier. The premier is head of government and leader of the majority party in the elected House of Assembly. The Cabinet is composed of 14 members selected by the premier from among members of the bicameral parliament consisting of the nominated Senate and the House of Assembly.
The Governor appoints a number of senior government positions, including the puisne judges, police commissioner, the auditor general and the parliamentary registrar.
OfficePositionNameSince
MonarchKingCharles III8 September 2022
King's RepresentativeGovernor and
Commander-in-Chief		Andrew Murdoch23 January 2025

Cabinet

Following the 2025 Bermudian general election, a new cabinet was appointed:
PortfolioMinister
Premier and Minister of FinanceDavid Burt
Minister of Economy & LabourJason Hayward
Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney GeneralKim Wilkerson
Minister of Tourism & Transport, Culture and SportOwen Darrell
Minister of Home AffairsAlexa Lightbourne
Minister of Public Works & EnvironmentJache Adams
Minister of HealthKim Wilson
Minister of Housing and MunicipalitiesZane DeSilva
Minister of EducationCrystal Caesar
Minister of the Cabinet Office & Digital InnovationDiallo Robain
Minister of National SecurityMichael Weeks
Minister of Youth, Social Development, and SeniorsTinee Furbert
Junior Minister of FinanceWayne Furbert
Junior Minister for Youth, Social Development and Seniors, Home Affairs, and National SecurityLindsay Simmons
Junior Minister for the Cabinet Office & Digital Innovation, and Public Works and EnvironmentMischa Fubler
Junior Minister for Health, Economy & Labour, and Housing & MunicipalitiesLauren Bell
Junior Minister for JusticeDennis Lister III

Legislative branch

The Parliament has two chambers: the House of Assembly and the Senate. The House of Assembly was originally composed of 40 members from 20 electoral districts for a term not to exceed 5 years. As the districts, based on the old parish boundaries, contained significantly differing numbers of voters, that body was replaced in 2002 with a 36-member House elected from single-seat electoral districts of roughly equal population for a five-year term. The Senate, called the Legislative Council until 1980, is the revising chamber and serves concurrently with the House of Assembly. There are 11 senators: five appointed by the governor in consultation with the premier; three in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition; and three at the governor's discretion.

Political parties and elections

The latest election results for the House of Assembly are as follows:

Judicial branch

The Magistrates' Court is a creature of statute. Its jurisdiction includes: adjudicating on small claims in civil matters, dealing with a number of regulatory applications, trial of summary criminal offences and serving as examining justices on indictable matters.
The Supreme Court has inherent original jurisdiction for most civil matters, with concurrent jurisdiction in common law and equity. The Supreme Court also deals with trials on indictment. The Supreme Court can judicially review government action in accordance with the principles of Administrative Law and entertain petitions that laws or public acts are contrary to the Constitution of Bermuda. It also has appellate jurisdiction on matters from the Magistrates' Court.
The Court of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction on matters from the Supreme Court.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the final court on all matters from Bermuda.

Administrative divisions

Bermuda has two municipal subnational entities: the city of Hamilton and the town of St. George. There are also nine traditional parishes, but these have no administrative or legal role. When Bermuda was first colonised, the territory was divided between eight primary landowners in equal allotments, and public land ; these divisions, then called "Tribes", came to be known as "Parishes". Until the late 20th century, the parishes maintained their own community councils responsible for such functions as birth records. Today, the Bermuda parishes are as follows:
  1. Sandys
  2. Southampton
  3. Warwick
  4. Paget
  5. Pembroke
  6. Devonshire
  7. Smith's
  8. Hamilton
  9. St. George's