HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Less than 24 hours after Premier David Burt confirmed that two senior members of his cabinet, including the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Reform, Kathy-Lynn Simmons, had stepped down from their positions, Simmons has announced her resignation as the parliamentary representative for Sandys North.
Earlier this week, Burt said that Simmons and Vance Campbell, the Minister of the Cabinet Office, whom he described as “valued members of the Cabinet,” had decided to move on. He added that he respected their decisions at this time and” cannot thank them enough for offering themselves for service and wish them both the very best for the future.”
Premier Burt is expected to announce a cabinet re-shuffle this week, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dennis Lister, confirmed that Simmons had submitted her letter of resignation as a parliamentarian on Tuesday.
No reason was given for Simmons’s decision to vacate her seat, but political observers say her exit comes at a time of apparent generational shift within the ruling party. Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the public works minister, announced his planned retirement from politics last December, and Walter Roban, the Deputy Premier, declared last month that he would not be contesting the next general election.
Sandys North had previously been held for the PLP by Michael Scott, the previous attorney general, who resigned from politics in September 2020.
The party has typically held Constituency 36 as one of its safe seats in the West End.
Under the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968, any MP vacating their seat for any reason other than the legislature’s dissolution would trigger a by-election within two months. The exception would be whether the legislature were to be dissolved sooner than that date, which occurs when a General Election is called.
If a by-election were to proceed, it would mark the island’s third in less than 12 months, fuelling speculation that a snap general election may be called.
Simmons served as the parliamentary representative for Sandys North after winning the seat in the October 2020 general election, defeating Marc Bean, the leader of the Free Democratic Movement leader, and Jeff Sousa of the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA).
She was appointed to the Senate in July 2017, after the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) regained the government.
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