Witness to history
Half-Way Tree most favoured for general election announcements
Published:Monday | August 11, 2025 | 1:09 AMErica Virtue/Senior Gleaner Writer
When Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness set the date for Jamaica’s 19th general election in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, last night, he joined a long line of leaders who have used the St Andrew capital as a rally point to make that announcement.
It was the eighth time the island has been told of an election from that spot – but, as history shows, calling an election in Half-Way Tree is no guarantee of victory.
The most successful ‘caller’ from Half-Way Tree is P.J. Patterson. He is the only leader to have announced three elections there – in 1993, 1997 and 2002 – and each call was followed by victory for his People’s National Party (PNP).
By contrast, former PNP President Portia Simpson Miller called elections in Half-Way Tree in 2007 and 2016, and lost both.
Edward Seaga’s 1983 Half-Way Tree announcement produced a dramatic, uncontested result. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won all 60 seats after the PNP opted not to contest that snap poll.
Donald Sangster called the 1967 general elections from Half-Way Tree. His party won those elections and in the process, secured a second term in office for the JLP.
Robert Pickersgill, retired former chairman of the PNP, has had a platform seat ahead of five elections called in Half-Way Tree – 1993, 1997, 2002, 2011 and 2016.
Reflecting on the unique energy of crowds gathered for election announcements, Pickersgill told The Gleaner, “There are some things that are special about Half-Way Tree.
“There is a special feeling always from Half-Way Tree and you would feel it. You would sense it. And you can tell the difference between ‘buy a crowd’. When they come on their own, it is fun, energy, fervour and conviction,” Pickersgill said.
Pivotal moments
He also recalled being present at other pivotal election moments – including the 1976 rally ahead at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay, ahead of the PNP’s victory at the polls that year. That election was called by Michael Manley. Four years later, the PNP returned to Montego Bay, where Manley famously declared, “150,000 strong can’t be wrong”, having seen the size of the crowd. The PNP was badly beaten in those elections as the JLP won 51 of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives.
Retired House Speaker Pearnel Charles said that, at his age and length of service, he could not recall all the details of the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) times in office and the calling of elections.
“You are talking about nearly 50 years for a 90-year-old brain. I can’t remember which one I was at, but I left Jamaica in 1959 and I came back to Jamaica in 1965, when [Sir Alexander] Bustamante was sick, Donald Sangster took over, got sick and died, and Hugh Shearer took over,” Charles said yesterday.
Along with Charles, only current but outgoing members of parliament (MP) Mike Henry and Karl Samuda, and MP Olivia Grange might have been on the platform at South Parade in Kingston in 1989 when Seaga announced the elections.
The South Parade elections resulted in a 45-15 win for the PNP.
It was the second time that an election announcement at South Parade resulted in defeat for the JLP, as Hugh Shearer called the 1972 elections from that spot and lost.
Last night’s announcement by Holness marked the third time that Holness has named the date for a general election. In 2011, having taken up the job of prime minister following the resignation of Bruce Golding, he announced the election from Mandeville, Manchester. The JLP lost those polls 42-21.
Holness, however, led the JLP to an election win in 2016 and went on to call the 2020 general election from Gordon House during the COVID-19 pandemic, the second of two elections to be called from that location. The first was called from Parliament by Premier Norman Manley in 1959.