HISTORICALLY, there has been hardly any real political excitement associated with the constituency of Central Westmoreland over the years.

Perhaps only the public scrutiny placed on former Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Karl Blythe regarding the Operation Pride scandal which contributed to his exit from politics. Or perhaps the pressure put on an earlier MP, Walter Cheddesingh by his Councillor, Pearl McKoy in the late 1970s, in an effort to wrest the seat from him – which actually succeeded, but of course became a pyrrhic victory for Ms McKoy by October 1980.

This lack of political frenzy is only generally associated with constituencies branded as strongholds, so Central Westmoreland’s reputation as that nice, quiet little PNP bastion has been cemented to the reality of the party’s 85 per cent domination of it in the 55 years of its existence. But with the passing of Roger Clarke, the political spotlight is set to be thrown squarely on the constituency in the weeks to come, as the major parties (and perhaps a few minor ones) jostle for prominence in the by-election result which must produce his successor, though hardly as large or in charge.

Indeed, for such a convivial, popular and influential figure in the political arena since the late 1980s, I often wonder how it took Roger so long to enter representational politics for which he was so well suited. And in his 28 years of total political service from the St Elizabeth Parish Council to Gordon House, his style and contribution not only produced political capital for his party and the country, but also placed him among that unique group of colourful politicians like ‘Slave Boy’ Evans, ‘Father’ Coombs, Wills O Isaacs, Isaac Barrant, ‘Dutty-Shut’ Jackson, ‘Bully’ Joseph, Donald ‘Danny Buck’ Buchanan and Harry Douglas.

Life for Roger Harold Clifford Clarke started at Glen Islay in north-eastern Westmoreland on June 11, 1940, son of a farmer and a nurse. He was educated at the Williamsfield Primary School and Manning’s High School, all of which are located in the constituency he last represented. His great success and prominence as an agricultural giant and a cane farmer with extensive knowledge and experience of the sugar industry, started as an 18-year-old employee at the West Indies Sugar Company Ltd (WISCO), 1958-60, then on to other estates… United Estates (1961-65), Sevens (1965-70), Appleton (1970-83) and Bogue (1983-86). There in St Elizabeth, he would spend most of his life as a farmer, politician, Justice of the Peace, businessman and everyone’s friend. He became so synonymous with the parish that he even played a pivotal role in helping to establish the St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation in 1994, and became an early recipient of The Best of St Bess award from the Foundation.

Roger Clarke’s passage to political prominence was certainly not slouchy, although it must be noted that every area that he represented enjoyed PNP dominance prior to his entry. Elected PNP councillor for the Balaclava Division of North-East St Elizabeth in 1986, he became mayor of Black River and Chairman of the Parish council, with both feats repeated after the 1990 Parish Council Elections. The opportunity to step up to the parliamentary plate came the following year when veteran PNP MP Sydney Pagon was forced to demit the North East St Elizabeth seat due to ill health, and following his passing shortly afterwards, Roger easily retained the seat for the PNP against JC Hutchinson (as an Independent) when the JLP boycotted the September 1991 by-election, polling 5,779 votes to Hutchinson’s 2,179 in a 40 per cent voter-turnout.

After serving as minister of state for agriculture (1992-95), he attained full Cabinet status for the agriculture ministry twice (1998-2007 and since 2012), as well as for the Ministry of Local Government & Works (1995-97), and was the very vocal spokesman on agriculture and rural development (2007-2011). His consistent domination of the North East St Elizabeth seat fell just a month shy of 16 years (having retained it in 1993, 1997 and 2002), and along the way he also served as a PNP vice president and was eventually designated vice-president emeritus. In spite of his adventure with the Liguanea guango tree as the minister of works, perhaps one of Roger Clarke’s most lasting accomplishments was the courageous re-arrangement of Half-Way-Tree traffic in 1995, making areas of Half-Way-Tree Road, Maxfield Avenue and Balmoral Avenue one-way in order to better control and co-ordinate traffic in the city’s busiest corridor. For this he was mercilessly derided, but even today it has proven to be a masterstroke.

By 2007 after Roger announced he was retiring from politics, he was actually yanked from his intended retirement and virtually parachuted into his hometown constituency of Central Westmoreland, politically eroded under Blythe and seemed highly poised to be taken by the JLP’s Russell Hammond.

When the dust cleared, Bruce Golding and the JLP took the 2007 general elections, but without Central Westmoreland. Roger Clarke’s rescue act earned him 10,441 votes (55 per cent) to Hammond’s 8,633 (45 per cent), with a comfortable 1,808 margin in a 61.8 per cent voter-turnout. In 2011 when the constituency had the highest voters, list at 37,543 (and the fifth largest population), the JLP tried a more dainty approach with former judge, Marlene Malahoo-Forte, but to no avail. Clarke increased his poll to 11,567 (57 per cent) and his margin to 3,042 when Marlene managed only 8,525 ballots (42 per cent) in a much lower 53.9 per cent voter-turnout.

In Central Westmoreland, Roger easily became the most popular and adored member of Parliament since Matthew Uriah Henry, the man from Blackness (district) who was also a cane farmer, a lay preacher, former Councillor, three-term PNP MP (1959-72) and who was respected and admired by folks from both sides of the political fence. In fact, Clarke’s passing followed closely on that of Jim Thompson, another native of the area with a similar political record and who first won the Glen Islay Division in 1956 when Roger was a 16-year-old student at Manning’s.

Interestingly, that one corner of the parish produced all three PNP stalwarts who served the area, the parish and the country with distinction, and also include the JLP’s Bartlett brothers, cousins of Clarke, who hail from nearby George’s Plain.

Forever regarded as an astute political organiser, a dedicated family man, an ardent Anglican, but also an avid domino player and generally a fun-loving person who was never shy to put his dancing prowess on public display, Roger Clarke’s image loomed large on the political landscape. His total representation of 22 years and 10 months between the two constituencies as an elected member currently ranks him at 26th on the longevity chart, and the fifth longest-serving elected member in the county of Cornwall since 1944, surpassed only by PJ Patterson, Derrick Kellier, Hutchinson and Pagon. Suddenly too, Roger Clarke at 74 became the oldest incumbent MP to pass away, of the 19 or so who died while serving, and also the first incumbent Cabinet minister in 46 years since the death of Clem Tavares in January 1968 – also of a heart attack.

Only Dr Ansell Hayden (West Westmoreland) who passed away back in 1971 at age 70 comes closest to Clarke’s age. Some of the most outstanding members whose services were cut short include: Dr Felix Veitch (at age 59), Sir Harold Allan (58), Sir Donald Sangster (55), Noel Nethersole (55), Isaac Barrant (49), Clem Tavares (43) and Ken Jones (41). Others like BB Coke, Max Carey, Cleve Lewis and Sydney Pagon died in their 60s.

Although renowned for Jamaica’s best period of economic growth, the administration between 1967 and 1972 lost a record of six sitting members (Sangster, Elliston Wakeland, Coke, Tavares, Carey and Hayden) plus National Hero Norman Manley who had resigned from Parliament just a few months before his death in 1969. And who can forget the only ill-fated woman in this category, the PNP’s Miss Hazel Hamilton of North-East St Ann who spent only a year in the House after her July 1973 by-election victory, then passed away in August 1974?

Thus far, Hazel and Roger possess their own little piece of unique history as the only two MPs who entered Parliament through the by-election route and exited the scene, facilitating other by-elections. Roger Clarke’s untimely death was a shocker, not only because he was popular, but also because incumbent fatality in Jamaica’s politics has not been as prevalent over the last 40 years as it was in the first 30 years after adult suffrage.

Clearly, more people are living longer and also because more younger people are entering politics earlier in their lives than previously. So now as Central Westmoreland prepares to host its first and Jamaica’s 42nd parliamentary by-election, many people are curious about possible candidates and whether politics will play a part in exactly when the election will be called, as practised by both parties in the past. Two flagrant cases occurred after the deaths of Dr Hayden and Cleve Lewis in 1971 and 1976, when the close proximity of impending general elections was the excuse used by both JLP and PNP administrations, leaving the people in both constituencies without representation for five and four months, respectively.

Quite obviously, the present PNP administration should have no qualm about calling an early by-election in a seat so dominated by them since its inception, and largely through their consistent strength in metropolitan Savanna-la-Mar, a traditional PNP town which accounts for close to 40 per cent of the constituency’s population. Created in 1959 out of the original West and East Westmoreland constituencies, the seat’s history has certainly demonstrated its political tradition, accommodating only six MPs in 55 years, four of whom have been PNP. Of the other two who were JLP, Josephs won in 1980 largely because of the massive national swing to the party and Hammond was unopposed in 1983 when the PNP boycotted the election.

For the JLP, this has come at a very bad time when they will undoubtedly be faced with a difficult by-election so close to their Annual Conference. Indeed, these are no longer the days of Esme Grant, Astill Sangster and Karram Josephs when the party could rely on areas like Petersfield, George’s Plain, Whithorn, Waterworks, Cornwall Mountain and Cold Spring to give them enough votes to make it a serious contest.

The PNP’s dominance of the entire parish since the 1980s has also been reflected in these areas in recent times – right down to every parish council division and every polling division. Ironically, the JLP will need this contest a lot more than the PNP – to show whether they are once more a united force even in their worst parish, or still a fractured and divided party, struggling to overcome the public perception of disunity, marginalisation of members and a lack of organisational strategies. Then again, all of that could pale in the twilight of what could easily become the JLP’s worst nightmare in the impending by-election…The sympathy syndrome for Roger Clarke… who, symbolically, will be interred in his hometown of Glen Islay…in the constituency.

Troy Caine is a political historian and analyst.