It was indeed the mother of all conferences.

Thousands of People’s National Party (PNP) supporters packed Kingston’s National Arena to overflowing, forcing thousands more to remain on the outside as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller presided over her first annual conference as president of the ruling party yesterday.

Party officials all agreed that the 68th annual conference was the largest they had seen in 30 years and was a ringing endorsement of Simpson Miller’s presidency, as well as a show of unity for a party that was deeply fractured by the presidential election held in February.

Party chairman Robert Pickersgill said they had anticipated a “bumper” crowd, so the party installed a large television screen outside for the thousands who could not enter the arena.

As the crowd swelled in the area, party officials seriously considered moving the conference next door to the larger National Stadium, as the rafters of the upstairs balcony shook precariously when comrades rocked to the choreographed music.

Pickersgill told the Observer that, “comrades had travelled from all across Jamaica to give her an official welcome as party leader”.

By 11:00 am, the heat inside the arena was unbearable, and it did not get better as the afternoon progressed. By mid-day, the stadium car park, and that of the National Indoor Sports Complex, which sits on the same property, were full to capacity, forcing many supporters to park their vehicles on Mountain View Avenue, Stanton Terrace, and Old Hope Road.

Deputy general-secretary Julian Robinson said they were sure that 500 buses, including 100 owned by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company, were used to transport supporters.

Many were asking where D K Duncan would put supporters from Hanover East, who had not yet entered the packed arena.

Supporter Inez Miller could not believe she came so far, from St James, and could not see her party leader. “Look how soon mi wake up and come, an yuh mean to tell me seh mi caan si Portia?” she asked.

The crowd inside on the conference floor was electrified by former PNP president and prime minister P J Patterson, who, as he did Saturday night, amplified his call for unity and promised his expertise at campaigning for the next elections.

According to Patterson, he was moving very quietly with “deadly force”, getting ready for the “sound of the trumpet”.

“When it comes to winning elections, I’m not the don, I’m not the professor, I am the dean,” Patterson said, repeating some sections of his Saturday evening address. “So I am going to give all my energies, all my attention to the greatest political party in the Caribbean and the [Western] hemisphere,” he said to thunderous applause.

When the party president arrived, her security officers ordered her to stay put in the vehicle, apparently fearful that she would be mobbed by the large crowd outside the arena. She emerged from the sun roof of the vehicle and blew kisses to the crowd while security personnel cleared the way so she could enter the arena.

Later, during the fund-raising segment of the session, an old man, who had to be assisted to the platform to contribute $3.50 to the party, touched many hearts.

A baby was said to have contributed $5, while Norman Horne, who recently joined the party after leaving the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), donated $3 million and WAW Developers Ltd contributed $5 million.

Abe Dabdoub, who won the North East St Catherine seat on the JLP ticket was welcomed as “comrade Dabdoub”. So too, were former JLP members Verna Parchment, Horne, Dr Dennis Minott and Kenneth Rowe.

Brasco Lee and Hugh Thompson, former general secretaries of the National Democratic Movement, were also welcomed.