Member of Parliament for St Andrew East Rural, the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Juliet Holness, has rubbished claims that she is fleeing the constituency to contest a safer seat in the next general election.

Since the February 26, 2024 local government elections where the JLP lost the Kintyre Division to the People’s National Party (PNP), and barely retained the Mavis Bank Division in St Andrew East Rural, there have been whispers in political circles that Holness has read the tea leaves and has decided that it is time to leave the traditional swing seat for a constituency which the JLP is more likely to win.

The JLP had won Kintyre by more than 450 votes in the 2016 local government elections but this time the PNP’s Vivienne Brown-Bond defeated the JLP’s Kelvin Clarke by 30 votes.

The JLP also had a shocker in the Mavis Bank Division, retaining it by the proverbial fingernail (13 votes) in 2024 after winning by almost 300 votes in 2016.

The local government results were seen by some political watchers as a sign that, after becoming the first two-term MP in the constituency with victories in 2016 and 2020, Holness was facing almost certain defeat whenever Jamaicans return to the polls for the next general election, constitutionally due by September 2025.

This prompted speculation that Holness, the wife of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and who now serves as Speaker of the House of Representatives, would be parachuted into a “safe JLP seat”, most likely in the Corporate Area’s northern belt.

But addressing a massive gathering of Labourities at her constituency office on Gordon Town Road on Sunday, Holness declared that she was not leaving and will contest St Andrew East Rural on a JLP ticket in the next general election.

“Don’t follow rumours, mi nah go nuh weh, mi nah go nuh weh,” declared Holness to cheers from her supporters.

“So workers, especially of east rural, don’t waste time a call me if a true say mi a go dis yah seat, and the other seat, and the other seat. Don’t waste time with a lot of the rumours. Why the PNP keeps you bogged down in rumours is that all you do is talk, and talk, and talk about the rumours.

“Which means say you nah enumerate, you nah canvas, you nah talk to yuh voters them about all the good things this prosperity government has done ’cause you get confused a talk ’bout fi them things. Don’t listen to them no more, it is a strategy…fi have you focusing on what don’t make sense,” added Holness.

She told the Labourities that their strategy going forward has to be focused on themselves, their work, and on their neighbour so that whenever the next election is called St Andrew East Rural will be ready to ensure a victory for the JLP.

Earlier Holness had identified St Andrew East Rural, St Andrew West Rural, and St Andrew Eastern as three neighbouring constituencies which the JLP must retain if it is to win the next general election.

“We are all sister constituencies and they are connected. If you win these three seats Jamaica will have prosperity for a long time to come,” said Holness after she had declared that the JLP is the party that believes the country is for all Jamaicans no matter where their political loyalty lies or even if they don’t support a party.