Mixed results for political parties in Portmore
Published:Friday | September 5, 2025 | 12:05 AM
One of two seats held by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in Portmore, St Catherine, has returned to the column of the People’s National Party (PNP) with former backbencher Robert ‘Big Rob’ Miller suffering defeat to newcomer Dr Alfred Dawes.
At the same time, the JLP’s Alando Terrelonge has now secured his third term with a second win over the PNP’s Raymond Pryce.
Dawes buried Miller’s hopes of returning to George William Gordon House, for a second consecutive term, by overturning a 1,124 margin of victory by Miller in 2020, to secure his entry to Parliament.
In the last parliamentary term, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) controlled two of the three constituencies in Portmore, St Catherine.
This wasn’t always the case as voters in the Sunshine City had traditionally cast their ballots in favour of the PNP.
There were periods when St Catherine South East, St Catherine South and St Catherine East Central had only members of parliament from the PNP.
From 1989 to 2011, the PNP controlled the three Portmore seats in Parliament. However, this 22-year stranglehold was broken when Terrelonge pulled off an upset to win the St Catherine East Central seat in 2016.
In 2020, Terrelonge repeated the feat and Miller made further inroads into the PNP’s dominance by snatching the St Catherine South East seat – a constituency that the PNP had racked up at least 10 electoral victories since 1949.
The PNP’s Fitz Jackson has made St Catherine South his fortress, ratcheting up a series of wins at the polls, his latest yesterday now promotes him to an eight-star general in Gordon House.
In a recent Gleaner interview, Jackson said he hoped the people of St Catherine South would give him a final term to complete “unfinished business for all constituents”.