‘Not simply token candidates’
Campbell says PNP needs half of 22 female candidates victorious for party’s return to power
Published:Tuesday | July 15, 2025 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
People’s National Party (PNP) General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell wants to see more women in representational politics, saying the struggle for women to get a seat at the political table is much more difficult than it is for men.
The PNP will be fielding 22 women on its slate of 63 candidates for the impending general election, which is due in a matter of weeks.
“The journey is much harder for a woman in the political process than it is for a man, and it’s for several reasons,” said Campbell. “Even when they try to raise funding, the way in which they would contribute to us as male candidates, different arguments are brought to them (the woman) when they are trying to raise the money to run the campaign.”
Campbell, who was speaking at the PNP’s Women’s Movement Rally at Manning’s School in Savanna-la-Mar, Central Westmoreland, on Sunday, said women often face resistance in meetings.
“Everybody wants to challenge their authority in some of the executive meetings and some of the other meetings,” said Campbell.
He said the PNP is working to rectify the gender imbalance in representational politics, with more than a third of its 63 prospective candidates being women.
“We have put forward 22 female candidates, and I want you to look at it and understand that we need a majority of them to win in order for us to be in government,” said Campbell. “So, we didn’t just put token candidates into difficult seats.”
“More than 50 per cent of them need to win the constituencies that they’re in. We have placed the females in critical, winnable constituencies so that they can have a part to play in the process,” added Campbell.
The general secretary also paid tribute to former PNP President Dr Peter Phillips, who he said played a pivotal role in promoting gender equity in the Senate by naming four women among the party’s eight senators in Opposition.
“When we went into the local government elections in Kingston and St Andrew, we had 40 candidates – 20 females, 20 males. We won 20 of the divisions – 10 females, 10 males.”
Campbell reminded the women of the party’s legacy in producing the nation’s only female prime minister.
“We have a very rich history, having provided Jamaica with its first female prime minister in Portia Simpson Miller,” said Campbell.