Not just a name

Ethnie Miller-Simpson is getting accustomed to her surname evoking memories of former People’s National Party President and Jamaica’s only female prime minister, Portia Simpson-Miller. While she deeply admires the trailblasing PNP leader, Miller-Simpson is determined to chart her own path – beginning with her bid to flip the long-time Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) stronghold of St Andrew North Western.

It is a daunting ask. The PNP has not won the constituency since 1976, and she is facing off with Duane Smith, whose father, Derrick Smith, was the member of parliament there for 29 years before he retired in 2018. The JLP used the safety of that seat as a political entry point for Dr Nigel Clarke, who had been tapped to be finance minister but needed a parliamentary seat to be eligible.

Change in leadership

When Clarke’s ambitions turned towards international financial roles, the door opened for Duane Smith.

Miller-Simpson said that change in leadership was what ultimately motivated her to accept the challenge.

“Initially, I said no, but while looking at the constituency, I saw some gaps and felt it would take two election cycles while Clarke was there. But without Dr Clarke, more gaps started to develop,” she told The Gleaner.

“Two pictures emerged in North Western St Andrew. Historically, the JLP’s presence felt indomitable, but under [the younger Smith], the structure and impact are not there,” said Miller-Simpson, noting that while Derrick Smith enjoyed widespread affection regardless of performance, his son hasn’t been able to build the same connection.

“He (Duane) does not cast a big shadow. When he first came to the constituency, he made every effort to say he is not his father, but in the last two months, he is trying to connect with the work of his father.”

The Manchester native and Knox College alum says she felt political stirrings from a young age.

“When some things happen to us as children, it has such a lasting impact. I recall at age nine, wanting to attend a PNP rally in Spaldings. My mom said no, but while saying no to going to the rally, my father said then Prime Minister Michael Manley is on a tour. You can stand on the roadside and see him. I ran up the road and saw a giant of a man sitting in the back of car. He had a huge impact on me as I felt his ideas and impact on politics were larger than life. So I feel as if I have come full circle.”

Her activism deepened during the apartheid era, inspired by a song that questioned racial injustice. She later ventured into local government politics and was behind PNP successes in Spring Ground, Manchester.

Now, she is focused on the issues plaguing the urban constituency: poor road networks and inadequate water supply. But her approach is grounded in consultation.

“I make no promises. I am not a promise-making person. We have discussed and agreed on priorities for the constituency. I speak to a people-centred governance, not one where you sit above, but you sit with the residents and we discuss matters that, once elected, are issues to be prioritised,” said Miller-Simpson. “I want the people to have an idea at the local level and we decide what’s most important. Those issues include infrastructure transformation, including replacing sidewalks because residents, especially the elderly, children, and those with disabilities are risking their lives to walk on our roads.”

Clarke polled 4,457 to the 2,809 polled by the PNP’s Keisha Hayle in the 2018 by-election.

In the 2020 general election, Clarke defeated the PNP’s Rohan Banks, who garnered 2,499 votes to his 6,566.

In his first time facing the electorate in the constituency in a by-election, which the PNP did not contest in November last year, Duane Smith polled just 1,857 to win the seat while Independent Carl Marshall picked up 111 votes.

karen.madden@gleanerjm.com