It has been an eventful year and quite a bit of action for the People’s National Party (PNP), having snatched electoral defeat from the jaws of victory in the general election, the disaster that was the local government election, the internal scandal that was the disappearing ‘donation’, or even the surprising (only because of timing) departure of the party president; it has been a chapter that the PNP must surely wish will be closing soon.

The chapter looked to be coming to a close with the rise of ‘Team Renewal’ — an ‘underground’ group of young PNP operatives who wished to shake up the party and move it from its current state of inertia. The group started out well, but by the looks of it, the team seems to have run out of steam (recall the race to replace Portia Simpson Miller?). The members look like a spent force, beaten by the machine that is the PNP old guard. The renewal seemed to have been killed before it was even birthed.

That, however, seems to have changed in the past few weeks, and it seems that after much chatter and dilly-dallying the new PNP seems ready to be rolled off of the manufacturing floor and hit the road. The renewal process that the PNP is actually going through now is unexpected; it has come like a thunderbolt or lightning and, like sudden summer rains, it is most welcome.

Dr Peter Phillips got the mantle of PNP president handed to him in something more reminiscent of a coronation of a monarch rather than a man who wished to lead the nation, and his initial actions seemed to show that he was going to be more of the same. With the constant bickering, complaints about government policy without providing a credible (most times none at all) alternative, and coupled with a seeming inability to stem the purging in the party of those who wished to see a change, it seemed that Dr Phillips and Team Renewal were doomed.

Then ‘coincidentally’ a few weeks before the party conference — which seemed set to be the most sombre conference since the party’s founding — we got hit with a sledgehammer from a party, as that is what it has become as it seems to be getting back its agility. From a party that for decades lacked ideas they have suddenly become a party with quite a few good ideas, albeit ideas that greatly need expanding on, and from a party that was ideologically bankrupt, a party that stuck its finger in the wind to determine their morals, it seems to have (tentatively, I’ll admit) re-embraced its socialist (Fabian) origins.

No longer do we have a party that buys wholeheartedly into the neo-liberal agenda. Who could imagine the PNP, circa 2002, insisting that local companies be given preferential treatment for mega-construction projects for example? The party of the people, after years of silence on the matter, seems to have rediscovered the urgent need for land reform in this nation — something that the man they hold in god-like status once realised was a must if we are to right the ship. The realisation that the crime Bill (which they allowed to go through) is far from perfect and nowhere near enough to dent, let alone strangle, crime is most welcome, as is the zeal for further integration in the region.

Those, however, are words, and as we know all too well in this nation, and especially as it relates to our politics. Everyone knows what to say, at what time, to get what you need; hence, our lovely phrase ‘action over word’.

The PNP’s shuffled shadow Cabinet is the first action that shows that something resembling a renewal process, and that the small glimmer of socialism (of some sort anyway), is re-emerging in the party. The shadow Cabinet, whatever one makes of the positioning of the personnel (and its current make-up does make one wonder what person X is doing in position Y) is a revelation.

The influx of people from Team Renewal, whom one could assume would have been thrown on the scrap heap, have instead been brought firmly back into the fold (see Lisa Hanna and Damian Crawford). The shadow Cabinet is an interesting mix of young and old. And, putting aside the fact that it contains individuals who are toxic (but who do still hold massive internal sway, but more interesting still), it is one that has ideas — whether one likes the ideas or not is a different matter — and a plan to implement them, is vocal on issues that really do affect the people on a daily basis and, most importantly, it is a group of individuals not blinkered in their thinking and are open to change so long as it reasons well.

The PNP still has a way to go as it relates to regaining the trust of the people that they took for granted. And though this may very well just be make-up on a pig, it is a very solid start. More needs to be done, making the party transparent and accountable to its members and the nation is a must, and in that stead the donation scheme is most welcome, but they have more to do. There seems to be the right team in place to steady the ship that is the PNP, but one should expect miracles.

Andrew Holness is very adept, savvy and, baring any massive kerfuffle, may very well have the next general election under lock, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If the PNP loses, but loses with grace, with ideas and policies, and with integrity, then that would cement them for the following election.

The PNP’s renewal has begun, it will be slow and painful, but the fruits will be worth it for both the party and the nation as a whole.

Alexander Scott is a political and social commentator, legal clerk, sports enthusiast, and proud graduate of St George’s College. Send comments to the Observer or alexanderwjscott90@gmail.com.

Editor’s note: The above piece was written prior to yesterday’s round of by-elections.