Ian Hayles, the People’s National Party (PNP) vice-president at the centre of the latest quarrel rocking the Opposition party, has been dogged by controversy ever since his fairly low-key entry into Jamaican politics in the early 2000s.

At that time Hayles had told the story of having come home from working in the United States to join the then governing PNP. However, that intended marriage never happened and Hayles ended up in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), specifically Generation 2000 (G2K), an affiliate group of young professionals.

But cracks started to develop in that relationship after he backed Norman Horne’s unsuccessful bid for the presidency against Dr Christopher Tufton, and in January 2005 Hayles resigned from the JLP, saying he was tired of the constant bickering and infighting in the then Opposition party. At the time, he said he had not ruled out the possibility of seeking membership in the PNP.

In 2006, having switched sides, he declared interest in representing the PNP in Hanover Western, saying that the party provided the best opportunity for him to fulfil his political ambitions under the leadership of the then newly appointed Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

“Portia Simpson Miller is the only leader now that can lead the country in the 21st century, and I am willing to serve under her,” Hayles told this newspaper at the time.

He received the nod to contest the seat and defeated the JLP’s Donovan Hamilton by 47 votes in the September 2007 General Election, which the JLP won by a wafer-thin majority.

That election result, though, was thrown into disarray after the PNP revealed that some members of the JLP held dual citizenship and, therefore, could not sit in the Parliament as they were in breach of Jamaican law.

The JLP countered with its own claim that members of the PNP were similarly in breach and both sides geared up for a battle in court.

Hayles was among the elected representatives fingered to have dual citizenship, but the PNP said he had surrendered his US citizenship before nomination day in August 2007.

That, however, did not stop the JLP’s Hamilton from filing an election petition in the Supreme Court against Hayles, arguing that the Member of Parliament (MP) held American citizenship at the time he was nominated to contest the general election.

Hayles, however, denied the allegation and filed a claim to dismiss the motion on the grounds that Hamilton had brought the matter to the Supreme Court outside of the 21-day period allowed.

But the court refused Hayles’ application and he eventually took the matter to the Appeal Court. The case dragged on and in January 2012 it was reported that Hayles and Hamilton were in talks to reach a settlement.

Over that time, however, Hayles strengthened his political clout in Hanover Western and when the December 2011 General Election was called he trounced Hamilton by more than 1,600 votes.

In the newly formed Government he was appointed junior minister to Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke. But in December 2012, Hayles was transferred to the water, environment and climate change ministry in an obvious move by the prime minister to avoid a protracted bitter feud between him and Clarke from mushrooming further.

Both men were at loggerheads, apparently over policy and operational decisions in the agriculture ministry.

After the announcement of the transfer, Hayles told the Jamaica Observer that the decision had not dampened his resolve to serve Jamaica.

“The fire that burns within me for the people of Jamaica, no one man can stop that fire, because it is a fire that burns for my country, in terms of seeing a better Jamaica, a better agricultural sector, and a better way forward for the people of Jamaica,” he said.

In early 2014, Hayles was in the news again, this time in a stand-off involving the Hanover Parish Council, during which he made unflattering comments about Lucea Mayor Shernette Haughton.

He had made the comments during a push to remove Haughton from office. The Association of Local Government Authorities condemned the statement and requested that Hayles apologise. He eventually did so to PNP President Simpson Miller.

Ahead of the November 2020 General Election Hayles had backed then Manchester Central Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Bunting in his failed bid to unseat PNP President Dr Peter Phillips. The challenge opened old wounds in the party and it went into the election divided, resulting in the party suffering a crushing 14-49 seat defeat to the JLP.

Hayles, who was seeking his fourth-consecutive term as MP, was one of the PNP’s shock casualties in that poll, losing to JLP political neophyte Tamika Davis.

Badly bruised by the loss, Hayles was reported to have blamed PNP insiders. However, he concentrated on strengthening his political base and the following year was elected a vice-president of the PNP.

In January 2023 news emerged that Hayles could be the subject of a major police investigation based on recommendations from the Office of the Contractor General (OCG).

In a report tabled in Parliament, the OCG said based on an investigation that it had launched in April 2015, it found what it described as “prima facie evidence of forgery” in a sketch plan which was submitted to what was then the Hanover Parish Council by Hayles and his wife.

The OCG then said it was referring Hayles and his wife Charlotte Alexander-Hayles to the commissioner of police for further investigation, pursuant to sections 3, 5, and 9 of the Forgery Act 1942.

Additionally, the OCG said it was also referring Hayles to the commissioner of police for further investigation in respect of allegations made by Shernet Haughton concerning an attempt to influence the actions of a public officer in the lawful conduct of her duties, contrary to the section 14(7) of the Corruption Prevention Act.

Hayles has insisted that he and his wife did nothing wrong.

The report, which was released after more than five years, due in part to a court injunction obtained by Hayles preventing its release, contained a referral for the commissioner of police to determine, among other things, whether Hayles and his wife had breached the Forgery Act in relation to buildings, including a plaza, that were constructed without the approval of the Hanover Parish Council.

Hayles, though, countered in a video statement, maintaining that he did nothing wrong and that his wife “paid for her documents, and she got such documents”.

The referral concerned alleged building breaches it was suggested that Hayles undertook while he was the MP for Hanover Western.

But Hayles argued that the then contractor general found no evidence linking him to any of the properties in question, including a plaza.

On the political front, Hayles had set his sights on Westmoreland Western, but some PNP supporters there refused to work with him and vowed that they would not vote in the next general election if the party gives him the nod to become its candidate.

Councillor Garfield James, who represents the Sheffield Division, was the preferred choice of some Comrades.

However, Hayles, who is one of PNP President Mark Golding’s staunch supporters, was given the green light after an internal election by delegates in the constituency on June 4 from which James had withdrawn, alleging irregularities with the delegates’ list.

The matter came to a head on July 10 when three of four councillors within the constituency resigned from the PNP in protest against Hayles’ selection.

Three days later at the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation meeting, the three councillors — Ian Myles (Little London Division), James, and Lawton McKenzie (Grange Hill Division) — joined JLP councillors in a motion that resulted in the PNP’s Councillor Danree Delancy being unseated as deputy mayor of Savanna-la-Mar.

He was replaced by Myles.

However, Hayles has remained resolute, saying the the people of Westmoreland are fed up, as they need vital services, infrastructure development, and employment opportunities, and as such have decided to support him because they have seen the work he did when he represented Hanover Western.

He described the councillors’ resignation as a sideshow, but said he was willing to work with every Comrade who believes in the philosophy and principles of the PNP.