HANOVER, Jamaica— People’s National Party councillor-elect for the Chester Castle division in Hanover Eastern, Wynter McIntosh said he was not troubled by the initial news of a loss, following Monday’s local government election.

On Monday, political newcomer and educator Kaydeen Myles-Campbell of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) was said to have won the Chester Castle division by 17 votes. However, the official count on Tuesday, resulted in McIntosh, a former mayor of Lucea in the parish, winning the seat by 181 votes.

In the preliminary count Myles-Campbell obtained 1,115 votes to 1,098 votes for McIntosh. However, following the official count of some 27 boxes by the returning officer Hermena Bucknor and her team, McIntosh received 1,195 votes in comparison to 1,014 for Myles-Campbell.

Reacting to the development on Wednesday, McIntosh said he was puzzled about the initial outcome.

“Monday night, the campaign in Haughton Grove was very festive. Somebody got a call while we were in the heat of our festivity that I was trailing my opponent by 17 votes. But then,  I said to myself that could not be correct. The fact is, I have checked all the results both for the JLP and the PNP across the 27 polling divisions and when I did that I realised that I was winning by 162,” McIntosh told Observer Online.

“So, to hear that I was trailing…, I was not disturbed by it because I know I was a victor but my constituents and divisional people were taken aback by it. But, yesterday afternoon when the final count revealed that I was winning by 181 votes, there was a sea of orange here in Mount Peto last night because they were celebrating the victory and were ready to work,” he added.

On Monday, it was said that the PNP had won six of seven divisions within the Hanover Municipal Corporation. However, should there be no further change with the ongoing recounts in the parish, the JLP will be without a seat in the corporation.

–Anthony Lewis