The Progressive Labour Party introduced party politics to Bermuda when it was formed in 1963. Led by Arnold Francis, the PLP consisted of six parliamentarians. Until then, all members of the House of Assembly sat as independents. A year later, 26 former independent MPs formed the United Bermuda Party under the leadership of Henry (Jack) Tucker, later to become Sir Henry Tucker.
The election in May 1968 was the first to be conducted within the parameters of universal adult suffrage and the first to be contested by multiple political parties. That election, and subsequent elections in 1972, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1989 and 1993, was won by the UBP, which was dissolved in 2011 after most of its members joined the fledgling One Bermuda Alliance. The PLP took power for the first time in 1998, some 35 years after it was formed. Party leader Jennifer Smith, later Dame Jennifer Smith, thus became the first PLP premier in history. The party also prevailed in elections held in 2003, 2007, 2017, 2020, and in March of this year. The OBA, which now sits in Opposition to the PLP, won the 2012 election. Premier David Burt has now led the PLP to victory in three consecutive elections. Only former UBP leader Sir John Swan, with four election victories to his credit, has led a party to victory more often.
Other political parties have formed and later disbanded over the years, including the Bermuda Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance. The NLP won two seats in the 1985 election, and one seat in the 1989 contest. The Free Democratic Movement, which was formed in 2020, is in operation today although it has yet to win a seat in the House of Assembly.
