WHEN Derrick Smith ended more than three decades as the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) standard-bearer for the St Andrew North Western constituency in January 2018 it was widely believed that his son Duane, councillor for the Chancery Hall Division, would be ushered into the post.

But at the time JLP leader Prime Minister Andrew Holness picked his closest advisor, Dr Nigel Clarke, to run in the seat and saw him to a comfortable victory over the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Keisha Hayle.

Holness then appointed Clarke the country’s finance minister. Now, six years and seven months later, Clarke has resigned and moved to take up a post at International Monetary Fund, with Holness finally giving the nod to the young Smith.

At a JLP Area Council One meeting, at Pembroke Hall Community Centre on Monday night, Holness was unapologetic about the decision to overlook Duane Smith the first time around.

“In keeping with my own personal philosophy there is no entitlement; nothing is owed to you because of patronage, fraternity, hereditary, family. Nothing is owed to you. Whatever you get you must merit it, you must work for it,” said Holness as he shared the stage with Derrick Smith whom he described as one of his mentors.

To loud cheers from Labourites in an unusually large crowd for a weekday meeting of one of the party’s area councils, Holness then added the expected sweetener that it is now Duane’s time.

“Today, I am pleased to say that Duane served his time faithfully as a councillor [and] demonstrated his commitment to the seat. He didn’t walk away when his dreams were not realised at first. He remained faithful, he remained humble, and so today… I am pleased to officially announce that at one minute past midnight on the 30th of October Duane Smith will be the official candidate to represent the Jamaica Labour Party in North West St Andrew,” added Holness.

Addressing the area council meeting earlier, Duane Smith admitted his disappointment at not being selected to contest the seat after his father resigned in 2018.

“This isn’t my first time standing in line for this particular seat. Almost seven years ago I was in the running for this very same position, excited and ready to serve in a new capacity. But as fate and duty dictated, it wasn’t my time,” he said.

“I stood in this same room, on this same platform, endorsing Nigel Clarke as the candidate for North West St Andrew. Now, mark you, it was not an easy thing for me to do but it was the right thing to do, it was the necessary thing to do.

“This move, without doubt, was the right move for the Jamaica Labour Party. I believed then — and I hold firm to that belief today — that whatever is in the best interest of the Jamaica Labour Party is in the best interest of Jamaica,” added Smith.

To loud cheers he declared that his dream to serve as MP for the constituency took a back seat for the greater good of the country, and that the proof of the correctness of that decision is “in the pudding”.

According to Smith, the decision by Holness to move Clarke into the seat provided the opportunity to strengthen a critical government portfolio, the Ministry of Finance, and Jamaica is better off for it.

He argued that Clarke represented the constituency with distinction since 2018, and he pledged to build on the work the just-resigned MP had done.

“I will work tirelessly to ensure that the people of North West St Andrew continue to receive the strong, effective representation they deserve, and deliver on the commitments we make to move this constituency and Jamaica forward,” he said.

“I am committed to continuing the work and ensuring that our constituency not only remains strong but that it thrives. I believe that leadership is not about holding a title but about being present, being assessable, and a voice for those who need it most,” he declared.