AS if the final results were already in, Labourites paraded through the streets of the St Andrew Eastern constituency celebrating two clear hours before polls closed, declaring victory for the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Fayval Williams over the People’s National Party’s Venesha Phillips.

In the end, they were right as Williams, the incumbent, trounced second-term councillor for the Papine Division Phillips, polling 6,972 to her 4,730 in the preliminary results.

The margin of victory is a far cry from that of 2016 when Williams managed to muster 161 votes more than the then PNP incumbent Andre Hylton.

There was an early rush on polling stations across the mixed-income constituency, with traffic particularly heavy at Mona High School shortly after 7:00 am, forcing several voters to leave with a promise to return when things “died down”.

The same obtained at August Town Primary School, Mountain View Primary and Papine High School.

But while the fanfare died down at minutes to 11:00 am at most locations, Labourites were still clamouring to vote at Mountain View Primary, with several insisting that the swing seat would never go orange again.

At that location, the group bundled between metal barriers, all the while complaining that the process was painfully slow. No one moved to observe Ministry of Health and Wellness COVID-19 protocols, amid a recent surge in cases of the virus.

Williams, who cast her ballot at Mona High School yesterday, told journalists that her party’s victory was sure.

“I’m very confident that the Jamaica Labour Party will form the next Government. We have been running on our history of performance as a party and, as MP, in particular, all the literature I’ve put out reflects that,” Williams said then.

“I’ve been able to document for the voters across St Andrew Eastern the many many projects that have been completed and some that are still in progress in many communities. I’ve been able to touch lives as I’ve moved around the communities. I’ve been able to open up opportunities for the people bringing into their communities training programmes that they can learn skills. So we’re not running on promises… We can say we have done these things by you [and] by Jamaica and I’m devoted to St Andrew Eastern,” she said.

Williams’ sentiments were reflected across the constituency with Labourites upbeat about the day’s activities.

In contrast, however, though Comrades worked diligently to pull out the votes it was evident that the majority was feeling dispirited.

The customary banter between supporters of the two major political parties was lacking as Comrades sat in groups largely to themselves speaking in hushed tones.

Their candidate Phillips, who cast her ballot at Sts Peter and Paul Preparatory School, put on a brave face as she told journalists that when all the votes were tallied the constituency would have a new Member of Parliament.

“I’ve very, very confident. I have all faith in the people of Eastern St Andrew. We require actually good, stable leadership. We want someone who is able to just interact and, you know, to make sure that we bring out the groups together to make things happen in Eastern St Andrew. We have a great constituency but we’re not appearing so great because we lack leadership, and after tonight we will get on that path to greatness,” Phillips said then.