Bermuda

Abstract

Often referred to as Britain's oldest colony, Bermuda has been considering the question of independence for more than 20 years. In elections in 1968 the largely black Bermudian Progressive Labour Party was broadly in favour of independence but has since moved to a more pragmatic position. Both it and the United Bermuda Party have been ambivalent in their support for or opposition to independence divisions, which most recently became apparent in the 1995 referendum on the issue, which showed 74 per cent of those voting opposed in a relatively low turnout (59per cent). The ‘journey from slavery to emancipation’, with independence as a crucial step, has recently become a slow one but the issue is bound to resurface at times of constitutional or economic friction, if only to be further postponed.