Editing Politics of Bermuda (section)

==History==
The original system of government was created under the Virginia Company, which colonised Bermuda, accidentally in 1609, and deliberately from 1612. The [[London Company|Virginia Company]] lost its Royal Charter for its territory on the continent of North America ("[[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]]") in 1622, and the Crown assumed responsibility for the administration of the continental colony. Bermuda, however, passed in 1615 to a new company (a ''[[Corporate spin-off|Spin-off]]'' of the Virginia Company, described at the time as an ''under-company''), The [[Somers Isles Company]] (''The Somers Isles'' being the other official name of the colony), formed by the same shareholders.

The colonial government was established in 1612 with the arrival of the first [[Governor of Bermuda]],  Richard Moore. Moore was actually the ''Lieutenant-Governor'', under the Governor of Virginia. The office would remain a Lieutenant-Governorship under an overseas Governor until the revocation of the Royal Charter of the Somers Isles Company in 1684 (and would continue to be termed as such until re-titled ''Governor of Bermuda'' in 1738). Moore was also instructed to appoint a ''Counsell of Six'' to assist in the governance of the colony.<ref>''Memorials of the Discovery and Early Settlement of The Bermudas or Somers Islands, 1515-1685'', Volume I (1511-1562), by Lieutenant-General Sir John Henry Lefroy, KCMG, CB, LL.D, FRS, Royal Artillery. The Bermuda Memorials Edition, 1981. The Bermuda Historical Society and The Bermuda National Trust. Printed in Canada by the University of Toronto Press</ref> The original form of local government that developed was similar to that of a [[County]] in England and Wales, with a number of prominent men appointed to key roles, such as the judiciary, Secretary, and Sherriff. As the trans-Atlantic colonies were too distant from the political centre at London for the national government (the ''English Government'') to easily fill its role as it did within counties of England and Wales, the (Lieutenant-) Governor was appointed to represent the English Government (and also the company) locally. The Governor was also appointed to fill the role performed in counties of England and Wales by the [[Lord-Lieutenant]], in command of the local [[Militia]] (there being no standing [[English Army]] at that time), with this office titled [[Commander-in-Chief]] or [[Captain-General]]. The various appointed officers of the local government were also [[Ex officio member|ex-officio members]] of the Council, a body that advised the Governor as the [[Privy Council of England]] advised the King, and that functioned as a [[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet]].

The elected [[House of Assembly of Bermuda|House of Assembly]] was created in 1620 under that the Somers Isles Company, functioning as a [[Lower house|Lower House]] of the [[Parliament of Bermuda]] with the Council acting as the [[Upper house|Upper House]] until 1888, when the Council was split into an [[Executive Council (Commonwealth countries)|Executive Council]] (which later became the Cabinet) and a [[Legislative Council]] as the Upper House.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://parliament.bm/about/view/3 |title=General Information |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=Bermuda Parliament |publisher=Government of Bermuda |access-date=2021-09-10 |quote=}}</ref> As there was originally no ''Deputy Governor'', the President of The Council could find himself temporarily acting as Governor in the event of the absence, incapacitation or death of the Governor (or during an [[interregnum]], which occasionally resulted from a retiring Governor departing Bermuda before the arrival of his replacement) until the mid-19th Century, after which the senior military (army, rather than naval) officer in Bermuda assumed the role of ''Officer Administering the Government'' during the absence of the Governor.

Voting was originally restricted to males, but (unlike the franchise for the national [[House of Commons]]) there was no [[property qualification]] as virtually all private land in Bermuda belonged to absentees until the 1630s, when the falling profits of Bermudian tobacco led many of the Company's adventurers to sell their landholdings, usually to the agents or tenants who occupied them (a property qualification would ultimately be introduced to minimise the number of coloured and poor white islanders who could vote). When the numbers of non-white landowners began to increase, a minimum value was established for the properties which entitled their owners to vote. In 1960, this was £60. A man could vote in each parish in which he owned sufficiently valuable land – giving the richest whites as many as nine votes each if they so desired.<ref>{{Cite book
 | editor-last = Fodor
 | editor-first = Eugene
 | year = 1960
 | title = Fodor's Guide to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda
 | publisher = David McKay Co
 | location = New York
}}</ref>

Since 1968 Bermuda has had a constitution that sets out its structure of government.<ref>[http://www.bermudalaws.bm/Laws/Consolidated%20Laws/Bermuda%20Constitution%20Order%201968.pdf Bermuda Constitution Order 1968]</ref> The constitution provides the island with formal responsibility for internal self-government, while the British Government retains responsibility for external affairs, defence, and security. The Bermudian Government is always consulted on any international negotiations affecting the territory. [[Legislative power]] is vested in both the [[government]] and the [[Parliament of Bermuda|Parliament]]. The party system is dominated by the [[Progressive Labour Party (Bermuda)|Progressive Labour Party]] and the [[One Bermuda Alliance]], while prior to 1998 it had been dominated by the [[United Bermuda Party]].