GRANGE HILL, Westmoreland — Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has indicated that the party has not yet settled on who will represent it in Westmoreland Western in the next general election.

The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency is Morland Wilson, however, there are mixed views from party workers on whether he should continue to be the JLP’s standard-bearer.

According to Holness, a review of all constituencies across the island was conducted by the JLP for the local government elections held last February, and issues identified were addressed. He said a process of consultation is next for Westmoreland Western.

“We did one consultation last Sunday in this constituency, that is then followed up by this meeting. Then, there are polls to be done, and that will give us a full picture as to where we stand with the candidate, and with the voters in the constituency.

“That will help inform [the] strategy going forward —so there is a process that is ongoing,” Holness told the journalists in response to queries from the Jamaica Observer following a constituency party workers’ meeting at Grange Hill High School in the constituency on Friday.

He said the party workers’ meeting on Friday went well, as the workers were able to express their views and were brought to a position where they are now beginning to start the necessary levels of organisation as the party prepares for the general election.

Holness added that workers posed questions about roads, water and other infrastructure during the private meeting.

“The supporters of the Jamaica Labour Party are about building Jamaica, and we were able to respond to them and explain the programmes of the Government,” declared Holness as he pointed out that the discussions in the meeting were not for the glare of the public.

“We try to do our business in a very organised and disciplined way. It is not necessarily for the glare of the public, but we try to ensure that everything that we do is orderly, rules-based, can stand up to scrutiny, and ultimately the Jamaicans can be proud of the democracy that exists in the Jamaica Labour Party.

“It is a people-based party so everything that we do is about consulting the people and hearing what they have to say,” added Holness.

He argued that Labourities are not fanatics and are the most critical assets of the JLP.

“They literally will come to meetings and say, ‘Prime Minister, we are dissatisfied with X, or we don’t like Y, or here is what you should do’. Labourities, you know their view is they choose Jamaica. They are the Jamaica Labour Party and they always choose Jamaica. They want to see what’s best for Jamaica, and that keeps us as leaders accountable.

“The party has changed so much in the last 20 years. It is a very democratic party, it is rules-based. And, as I’ve said, the person who says, ‘I’m a Labourite’ is more about what is best for the country.

“Of course you’ll always have the issues of personal benefits and disgruntlement over personal benefits, and those are sometimes intractable issues, but we try as best as we can to assist as many persons as we can but that does not distract from the real reason why people come here and are at the meeting at 10 o’clock [in the night],” added Holness.

While not giving a hint as to when the general election will be called, Holness said JLP is in a continuous preparation mode.

“The machinery of the Jamaica Labour Party is a standing machinery — it is always there and we are always ready for an election. But, you want to rev up the engine, tune it up, get it ready — and that process is ongoing,” stated Holness.

Last Sunday, the party held a yes/no consultation process across five divisions in the constituency: Little London, Sheffield, Grange Hill, Negril, and Friendship.

At the end of the process Wilson secured more than one third of the just over 100 delegates who voted.

The consultation process was aimed at determining whether the party workers would continue to support the MP in a general election.

Following the sound-off a member of the constituency campaign team, with responsibility for communication and canvassing, Venesha Phillips, said the results were an indicator that Wilson will have to “pull up his socks”.

It was a similar sentiment shared by hotelier Richard Wallace, who argued that while Wilson has done a lot in the constituency, more needs to be done.

“He is up against a very formidable opponent [Ian Hayles], and so he needs to do a lot before the election is called, because if it is his own party members questioning his ability, that means that he definitely has more work to do,” Wallace told the Observer on Sunday.

“I do know that he has done some work, and in politics people are never satisfied, no matter how much you do, but he does need to do more, and to engage the people more, and for the people to feel him as an MP more,” said Wallace.

“I believe that if he does the work, he will get the reward. So, it is totally up to him, even though the time is apparently short now; but he does have work to do,” added Wallace as he commended Wilson for the support he has provided to the business community in having the Government address a number of issues.

In 2020, Wilson made history when he won the seat for the first time on behalf of the JLP.

In that election Wilson obtained 6,148 votes to beat the People’s National Party’s (PNP), Dr Wykeham Kenneth McNeill, who secured 5,095 votes.