Butler: Theme & Talk of Regeneration To Come
As we announced this morning, the race for Premier now has three entrants, as former educator and former Minister of Culture and Social Rehabilitation Dale Butler announced today he will throw his hat in. He will have two official launches of his campaign at 12.30 Tuesday, August 24th and 6.30 p.m. Wednesday, August 25th. On the 24th he will release his theme and also items needed for a Social Agenda. On the 25th he will talk about the Regeneration of Bermuda.
Widely respected in the community, Mr. Butler is said to have given a copy of his official letter to Mrs. Barbara Johnston and well known PLP stalwart Ms. Laverne Furbert before going to the PLP. When asked why he did that, he stated:
Mrs. Johnston canvasses with me and I have the support of her cat and dog. Ms. Furbert is my cousin and is often very critical of all of my actions so I wanted to show both of them how much I care about them and will not ignore them under my administration even though they openly support candidate The Hon. Paula Cox.
Mr. Butler was reluctant to tell us the location of his two press conferences but promised to release them on August 23rd.
Mr. Butler joined the PLP at the age of 16 and first ran and was defeated for the PLP in the 1981 election. Undeterred, he became a leading advocate for culture, youth and education. Currently representing Constituency 25, Warwick North East, he is a Director of the Little Venice Group, a celebrated lecturer, author, researcher and growing film-maker. Dale Butler was a PLP Minister from 2003-2009 and assisted the Government in instituting many programs including: Mirrors, Child Day Care, The Legacy Fund, Dr. Kenneth E. Robinson/Cyril Packwood Memorial Lecture, and National Heroes Day.
Mr Butler, often seen by the public as one of the more popular MPs, can be expected to gain wide support from a cross-section of the community, with the initial feedback on our Facebook page leaning very positively towards Mr Butler, however attracting support from the delegates whom will make the decision remains another matter. Fellow candidate Deputy Premier Paula Cox, considered by many as the frontrunner, has attracted strong support from party members, with numerous MPs coming out in support of her campaign.
