About

The Hon. Dennis P. Lister, JP, MP, was born and raised in Bermuda. Currently he is the longest serving Member of Parliament. He was first elected to Parliament in a general election on 9^th February 1989 as one of the two Members elected for the constituency Sandys North under the then system of dual seat constituencies. He was re-elected for that constituency in 1993, 1998. The general election of 2003 was the first under the single seat system, Mr. Lister won that election as the representative for constituency Sandys North Central and was re-elected in 2007, 2012 and 2017. In 1991 Mr. Lister was one of the delegates representing Bermuda at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) CAA Regional Conference held in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1992 he was one of two Progressive Labour Party representatives singled out by the British Commonwealth in London to visit Britain for an intensive study of the internal workings of the Westminster system of Government. In 2002 he represented the Government at the British Labour Party’s annual conference in Blackpool, England. In 2012 he was a delegate at the annual CPA plenary conference held in Sri Lanka. In 2018 Speaker Lister attended the 24^th CAA Regional Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in the Seychelles and also the 43rd CPA CAA Regional Conference in Cayman Islands. From 1989 to 1998 Mr. Lister sat as a Member of the Opposition. He first served as the Shadow Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation and later as the Shadow Minister for Transportation. From 1998 to 2012 he sat as a Member of the first Progressive Labour Party Government and served as Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation; Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Works and Engineering. From 2012 to 2017 he again sat as a Member of the Opposition and served as the House Leader. In 2017 when the Progressive Labour Party regained Government, Mr. Lister was unanimously elected Speaker. The 2017 election was historic for Mr. Lister as his son was also elected. This is the first time that a father and son have simultaneously served as Members of Parliament.

As a Minister, Mr. Lister has represented Bermuda at various overseas conferences. However he highlights the 2002 World Sustainable Development Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa as life changing. The discussions reflected upon the impact that every country, collectively and individually have on the sustainability of the World and challenged us all to take responsibility for our harmful environmental practices. Mr. Lister was educated in Bermuda and America, and has a Degree in Business Administration. In 1983 he returned home and began his life as an entrepreneur. He and his family opened a grocery store in the Sandys community which he operated for over a decade. In the mid 1990’s his entrepreneurial spirit led him in a new direction and he purchased an Insurance Agency from his uncle in 1996. The Agency has afforded Mr. Lister to expand into various business opportunities over the years including real estate. However as a result of his keen interest in the environment and sustainable development, he has participated in and or created variety of “Green Technology Projects”. He has presented on Green Energy topics in Bermuda, The Caribbean and the USA, including taking one of the first electric cars to a conference in the Caribbean. In 2015 he was a partner in supplying a fleet of BMW i3 electric cars for the America’s Cup Race that was hosted in Bermuda. Mr. Lister believes that embracing a “Green Energy” system today will help our sustainable accountability for the future. In 2016 he invited the green energy company Twenty First Century Utility to Bermuda to assess the feasibility of developing a green utility that would benefit the people of Bermuda. Mr. Lister and his wife Miranda have been married for thirty-eight years. They are active Seventh Day Adventists and serve as Family Life Directors for their local church. Mr. Lister believes that as we strengthen our families we strengthen our communities. In their personal time Mr. & Mrs. Lister like to travel and believe being active is important for one’s health. They enjoy swimming and walking.