Chang admits Westmoreland was too tough for JLP

Western Bureau:

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) General Secretary Horace Chang has admitted that Westmoreland, which the party lost 3-0 in Wednesday’s general election, is a tough parish to win as a result of its long-standing allegiance to the People’s National Party (PNP).

In 2020, the JLP created the mother of all upsets in Westmoreland, sweeping all three seats, which was arguably the most astonishing result of that entire election cycle. Even today, many people see it as an aberration, arguing that it should not have happened, based on the PNP’s perennial strength in the parish.

In the 2020 sweep, the JLP’s then political rookie Morland Wilson performed a giant-killing feat, beating the PNP’s seasoned campaigner Dr Wykeham McNeill to win the Westmoreland Western seat, which was considered untouchable.

In Westmoreland Eastern, which the PNP had made safe through former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson since 1980, the JLP’s relatively unknown candidate Daniel Lawrence shocked all and sundry by taking down Luther Buchanan, who must have felt invincible based on how little chances his opponent was given.

In Westmoreland Central, Dwayne Vaz, who was positioned to add to the legacy of former PNP stalwarts Dr Karl Blythe and the late Roger Clarke, also got the shock of his life when he was beaten by the JLP’s standard-bearer George Wright.

However, on Wednesday, lightning did not strike twice at the same location for the JLP, as the PNP rebounded decisively with Vaz taking back the Westmoreland Central seat by turning the table on Wright with a 9,916 votes to 8,385 votes.

Dr Dayton Campbell, who was brought in to replace Buchanan in Westmoreland Eastern, scored a comfortable 7,558 votes to win over Lawrence’s 5,624.

DEFEAT

In Westmoreland Western, Ian Hayles found success in defeating the JLP’s Dr Albert James – who had replaced Wilson on the JLP’s ticket – with 7,992 to 6,024.

In his assessment of the Westmoreland results, which were made even more ominous by the PNP winning the two seats in neighbouring Hanover, Chang acknowledged that the JLP lacked the firepower that was needed to repeat their 2020 success.

“Westmoreland is always a tough one, and, although we got some pick-ups, we did not get the type of candidates to do the swing votes in there,” said Chang, who nonetheless praised the effort on James in Westmoreland western.

“Mr James did pretty well. There were some concerns about the outgoing candidate (Wilson), so that created a challenge, but he did well. The constituency has some strong grounding in the PNP, which is difficult to move.”

In Westmoreland Eastern, Chang said the JLP was getting some movement, but he intimated that the timely endorsement of the PNP candidate by former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson swung the momentum in the PNP’s favour.

“… We were getting some movement and, of course, they called on the former prime minister, distinguished prime minister (P.J. Patterson) to give a word of support, and that is a very powerful lifeline,” said Chang.

Despite the complete reversal of the 2020 success in Westmoreland, Chang said the JLP got some good results, singling out the encouraging signs in Westmoreland Eastern, which he sees as encouragement to build on for the future.

“We got some good results in various districts and we are going to fight to maintain our base in there and, when the local government election come, we will look at that to analyse and refocus our workforce in that one,” said Chang.

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