Dear Editor,

Sometimes you lose.

Sometimes you learn.

Sometimes both.

There is no denying that Dr Peter Phillips is an outstanding public servant. He is arguably one of the best ministers of anything on either side of the fence. He is a good worker. However, not every good worker is a leader.

Dr Phillips’s demise is a lesson to ordinary workers who envy leaders for their roles because they believe they put in good work and therefore deserve the post. Leadership requires more than the ability to work. You could be the top sales representative in a retail organisation and it doesn’t qualify you to lead the sales team. You could be the best news reporter and it doesn’t qualify you to be the editor or head of news.

The People’s National Party (PNP) rejected Phillips twice and chose a more loved Portia Simpson Miller (PSM). That is politics. The people must love the leader. Yet, he never accepted this. So having failed as campaign chairman for an election PSM should have won, he went for the post again. This time, in true PNP fashion, it was handed to him on a platter simply because he was now next in line. He wasn’t the best choice, but he was next in line and deservedly so for all the hard work he had done. The party would entertain no thoughts of putting in place someone the electorate wanted. They would make the electorate want this very hard worker.

Said worker, turned leader, managed to headline the news all day, on election day, with a resignation speech.

The writing was on the wall that Dr Phillips wasn’t it, and so an ambitious Peter Bunting decided to stir things up. Some may argue that the challenge hurt the party. Others may argue that it was a necessary wake-up call. But those who observed saw that the 76-vote victory margin wasn’t enough of a wake-up call. The party went to sleep again. The wounds still fresh, nearly every Rise United front-runner went down in this election. One PNP casualty was also many.

The PNP thought it could run a successful campaign to change the leader-centric culture of the Jamaican electorate. But on September 3, 2020, the party was handed a resounding NO and one which the party deserved. A national swing sees Peter Bunting out of the House. Imagine that. Lisa Hanna is clinging for life. Mr Granston who? And Dr Phillips hung on by a paltry 1,000-odd votes. Little Miss Myrie nearly pulled off a huge upset.

The fact is, the electorate would have voted for anyone in green. It didn’t matter who. A vote for a Jamaica Labour Party candidate was a vote for its leader, Andrew Holness. Might I remind you that when the prime minister ascended to the leadership role it wasn’t his time. But he was the best choice. Today, he is large and in charge. A man with a little known team pulled off a clean sweep.

This is how an electorate tells a hard ears party NO! Renewal in 2016 did not mean Phillips. The PNP knew this. Safe seat is a thing of the past. Leadership is not an entitlement. Leadership is not for everyone. You don’t get to shove anything on an electorate. You listen to the voices of the people.

Will the PNP finally hear?

Phillips got the perfect opportunity to leave gracefully when he fell sick. But he was as defiant as ever, determined to have his moment. Famous last words: “I’m back!”

Dr Phillips, this wasn’t necessary. Your quest to enter Jamaica House has tarnished the legacy of a good worker. You did good work. Unfortunately, you go down as the only PNP leader to not become prime minister and devastatingly so. This is a hard pill to swallow and I pray for your healing and reconciliation.

Meanwhile, the silver lining behind this dark cloud is that the PNP gets a clean slate. The party couldn’t do it, so the electorate cleaned house on its behalf. The ‘next in line’ culture now shattered, these are interesting times for the party which is now forced to look deeper and farther.

Whither renewal? This is intriguing at best.

S Campbellmiss.suzansmith@gmail.com