JLP retains Chin in Manchester Southern despite Grove Town concerns

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) delegates in Manchester Southern have voted to retain Robert Chin as the party’s candidate in the upcoming polls, but concerns remain regarding his ability to hold on to the seat.

Sixty-two per cent of the JLP delegates backed Chin for a re-election bid, voting 176 to 108 in favour of the sitting member of parliament (MP).

Chin, The Gleaner has been told by JLP insiders, has been on the ropes and is facing pressure from persons in the constituency and wider party to give up the candidacy.

Added to that, the MP is up against the external pressure of prospective People’s National Party’s (PNP) candidate Senator Peter Bunting, who journeyed to the constituency after a shock 2020 defeat in Manchester Central at the hands of Rhoda Moy Crawford. Bunting has reportedly gained significant ground in the constituency, which was battered by Hurricane Beryl in July 2024.

In the Porus division, 59 delegates voted to keep Chin’s candidacy while eight voted no. In Grove Town, 24 people voted yes, while 59 said no; 43 gave him the nod in Alligator Pond while 13 objected; and 50 said yes in Newport versus 28 who said no.

Efforts by The Gleaner to reach Chin for comment were unsuccessful.

The MP reportedly expressed “heartfelt” gratitude for the support, telling supporters in a short message that the JLP was a democratic party and that the majority had spoken.

“To those who voted no, the door is always open, and I hold malice to none. This is our party. Let us unite to bring home the seat in the next general election. There is a lot of work to be done, and I am 100 per cent ready and committed to the task,” he said following the January 4 vote.

But The Gleaner has been told that concerns linger about whether he can retain the seat, with insiders pointing to Grove Town, the party’s strongest division within the constituency.

800-VOTE MARGIN

Chin pulled more than 2,000 votes in the division in September 2020, winning by more than 800 votes.

He also won Alligator Pond by 80 votes and Porus by 242 votes while he lost Newport by 236 votes.

In 2016, the JLP won Grove Town by 639 votes, pulling 2,532 to the PNP’s 1,893. The party lost Alligator Pond by 585 votes to the PNP, lost Porus by 402 votes and Newport by 828 votes.

Councillor for the Grove Town division, the JLP’s Iceval Brown, told The Gleaner that it was not clear why her division voted heavily against Chin.

She said she voted for the MP.

“This is a democratic party. I don’t know why they did it. They just did. Each delegate has a right to make up his or her mind, and I do not dictate to people. You need to allow people to do what they want to do. It was a private vote, so each person did what they wanted to do,” the five-term councillor said.

At the same time, she denied that there was a runoff between Chin and PNP-turned-JLP supporter Adion ‘Diamond Finger’ Peart. She said a media report that indicated this is false.

In the meantime, JLP workers in St Elizabeth North Western have elected Andrew Morris, principal of Lacovia High School, as the constituency’s new standard-bearer, marking the end of nearly three decades under the leadership of MP J.C. Hutchinson.

Of the 85 delegates who voted, 79 supported Morris, who was endorsed by Hutchinson while six backed civil servant Toni-Ann Cowan.

‘UNGRATEFUL PROTESTORS’

The vote, which took place at the Lacovia Community Centre on Saturday, comes two months after Labourites protested in the constituency, urging the party to show Hutchinson the door.

Hutchinson, who called the protestors ungrateful, said he was in a meeting and could not immediately comment on the latest development when contacted by The Gleaner on Monday.

Morris’ selection also comes two weeks after the outgoing MP surprised the JLP leadership, announcing at a meeting that he would step aside.

Hutchinson first secured his seat in 1997 by bagging 5,943 votes to defeat the PNP’s Melford Brown by 504 votes. He also outpaced National Democratic Movement candidate Toussaint Lewis and John Ledgister.

The JLP has not yet ratified Morris’ candidacy, the educator confirmed, stating that he was still awaiting a final decision from the party.

Still, Morris said he was “elated” and “honoured” to have been elected by delegates, a first step in his efforts to retain a seat the People’s National Party has not won since 1993.

“That, in itself, is something great. Just for the people to request me like that, to be there and to support them and to serve them as their member of parliament, says a lot. It speaks volumes,” said Morris, who is expected to face off with the PNP’s Patricia Scarlett-Forrester in the next general election.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com