Deafening sounds of jubilation pierced the St Thomas night sky Friday as supporters of the People’s National Party (PNP) celebrated Rosemarie Shaw’s victory in the municipal by-election for the Morant Bay Division in St Thomas Eastern.

Veteran Shaw received 2,096 votes, compared to 1,978 ballots counted for political neophyte Winston Downie of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in the preliminary results, which will likely be finalised by the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) today.

The by-election — one of four held across the island on Friday — was marred by allegations of voter intimidation and vote-buying, triggering tense moments between supporters of both parties, particularly at Morant Bay Primary School, which housed five critical polling divisions.

The other contests were parliamentary elections in St Andrew North Western and Trelawny Southern, which the PNP refused to contest, and a municipal poll in the Aenon Town Division in Clarendon.

The Morant Bay vacancy came after the passing of the PNP’s Rohan Bryan in May this year.

The vacancy in Aenon Town, a traditional PNP stronghold, was created after the passing of the JLP’s Marjorie McLeod-McFarlane on September 1, 2024.

McLeod-McFarlane had won the division in the local government elections in February this year, making it only the second time the JLP took that division.

The vacancy in St Andrew North Western was created when former Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke resigned last month to take up a deputy managing director job with the International Monetary Fund, while Trelawny Southern had been vacant since just over one year ago when long-serving Member of Parliament (MP), the JLP’s Marisa Dalrymple Philibert resigned after an Integrity Commission ruling against her.

Late Friday evening, PNP MP for St Andrew South Eastern Julian Robinson, who was on the ground in Morant Bay all day, told the Jamaica Observer that he was happy that Shaw had won the contest which became necessary after the death of PNP Councillor Rohan Bryan on May 1 this year.

Robinson sought to downplay Shaw’s 118-vote margin of victory, saying, “A win is a win; it’s better to get a win.”

He also expressed pleasure at the outcome of the Aenon Town poll won by the PNP’s Delroy Dawson, a former councillor for the division, saying both results are a continuation of “the trend since the local government election” in which the PNP won six municipalities to the JLP’s seven, while the prized Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation ended in a tie.

According to Robinson, the Morant Bay and Aenon Town results “show that the Jamaican people are ready for change, and whenever the prime minister calls that [general election] date we are ready to assume the reins of power”.

Asked if he was sorry that the PNP did not contest the parliamentary by-elections, given the results of the municipal polls, Robinson said, “No, because those elections are due in maximum another nine months.”

However, he said the party chose to contest the municipal elections “because the term started in February [this year]”.

Robinson’s colleague, Fitz Jackson, the MP for St Catherine Southern who was also in Morant Bay, expressed elation at Shaw’s victory.

“We are not surprised because from our campaigning efforts it was clear that the people of Morant Bay are fully behind the People’s National Party and the candidate. This is merely a springboard to the general election, whenever it is called. We are ready here for that bigger call,” he said.

Shaw, speaking with the media a few hours before her victory was declared, cited the need for a central sewerage system and youth unemployment as two of her focus areas upon election.

Shaw said she was “pretty relaxed” and expressed confidence about emerging victorious in the election based on her track record as a former councilor and mayor of Morant Bay.

“I have spent 26 years, from 1981 to 2007, as a political representative in this division, and I think my work and my record of performance speak for itself, and I think I will be rewarded by the people,” Shaw said at the time.

Jamaica Labour Party Leader Andrew Holness gets a warm welcome from supporters in Morant Bay on Friday as constituents voted in the municipal by-election for the Morant Bay Division.

A Jamaica Labour Party supporter stops his motorcycle to engage in friendly banter with People’s National Party supporters in Morant Bay on Friday.

People’s National Party supporters celebrate in Paul Bogle Square after the victory of their candidate, Rosemarie Shaw, in Friday’s municipal by-election for the Morant Bay Division.