KINGSTON, Jamaica — Former Cabinet minister and MP from the parish of St Catherine, Enid Maud Bennett, died last night in the Andrew’s Memorial Hospital in Kingston.

Bennett, 86, was a Member of Parliament for over 30 years representing the constituencies of Central and West Central St Catherine for seven consecutive terms, the longest serving female MP prior to Portia Simpson Miller.

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in a statement a short while ago extended its deepest condolences to the family of Enid Bennett CD.

She was “a pillar of the JLP and a political pioneer for women in Jamaica and the Caribbean,” JLP General Secretary, Dr Horace Chang said.

“She was someone who believed in working with the people and for the people,” Chang recalled.

Bennett’s fixed election motto over the years was “I promise service”. She said it was a policy demanded of her by her political mentor, the national hero and founder of the JLP, Sir Alexander Bustamante.

She served as Minster State in Ministry of Labour and Social of Social Security between 1980 and 1989.

She was also the first female deputy leader of the JLP, a position she took from current House Speaker, Pearnel Charles, in 1978. She was a trustee of the JLP up to the time of her death.

Both the government and the JLP have expressed condolences at her death.

Balford Henry