Parliamentary Elections, 18 February 2025

Bermuda held its federal parliamentary election on 18 February 18 2025, to elect all 36 members of the House of Assembly. The election was conducted by the Bermuda Parliamentary Registry using the first-past-the-post voting system across single-member constituencies (Government of Bermuda 2025).

The campaign period was marked by intense debates over the cost of living and social welfare programmes, with 109 candidates contesting the election, including candidates of the two main parties—the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) and the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA)—as well as the Free Democratic Movement, the Emperial Group and 26 independent candidates (McWhirter 2025; Johnston-Barnes 2025).

The ruling PLP focused on defending its economic record and expanding its policy initiatives, while the main opposition, the OBA, criticized the government’s handling of economic challenges and presented itself as a more competent alternative (Deacon 2025).

The PLP, led by Premier Edward David Burt, retained power with 25 seats, a decrease from the 30 seats won in the previous election ( McWhirter 2025). The OBA increased its presence in the House of Assembly from six to 11 seats with other parties and independent candidate failing to win any seats (McWhirter 2025).

Overall, a total of 45,064 registered voters participated, resulting in a turnout of 54.99 per cent, almost six per cent down on the previous election (60.93 per cent in 2020) (International IDEA n.d.).In 2022, Premier Burt announced his intention to step down as PLP leader in 2026 based on his commitment to serve two terms in that position (Connolly 2022).