Chris Gauntlett is the adopted candidate for Constituency 34, Sandy’s South Central.
Chris was born in 1973 and grew up in Somerset with older brother Adam and parents Ted and Daphne. He attended Somerset Primary’s P1 and P2 years (now Lagoon Park) and moved into P3 through P7 at the main school, then moving to Warwick Academy for high school and finishing in 1990.
He attended two years of boarding school at Ridley College in St Catharine’s, Ontario before achieving a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature, in 1997 from the University of Waterloo, Ontario.
Throughout his school years from the age of 12 onward, his summers were always on the water, working at first on tour boats and boat rental shops until he learned to SCUBA dive at the age of 16.
Since then, he has been involved with the SCUBA tourism industry in Bermuda. He is currently the owner/operator of Blue Water Divers & Watersports, located at Island Tour Center in Dockyard.
Having been conscripted into the Regiment at the age of 18, but deferred from service while he was in college overseas, he commenced his mandatory service in January 2003.
Chris ultimately remained past his required three years, for a total of approximately 15 years of service, concluding at the rank of Captain in 2017.
He was employed in the reinsurance and forex industries at locally based companies until 2012, when he took over Blue Water Divers.
He is a SCUBA Instructor, boat captain, retired Commissioned Officer (RMA Sandhurst) and graduate of Command Staff College (Fort Frontenac, Kingston, Ontario).
Chris has been a member of a number of boards and committees related to corporate charitable contributions, tourism and Bermuda’s ocean environment.
Chris adds: “I think Bermuda has struggled, politically, for so long that we’ve forgotten that it can be better. We’ve forgotten how to work together for an outcome that benefits everyone. We’ve recently been accused by the Government of trying to be all things for all people, as if that’s a valid criticism of the type of person who is in the OBA. It may not be possible to find a perfect answer to a problem – but benefiting everyone should still be the goal. The goal guides the journey.”
He is married to Melanie, and they have two daughters, Sophie and Amy.