BUOYED by a massive crowd which turned out for its final parish rally in Cross Roads, St Andrew, Saturday night, chairman of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Region Three Dennis Gordon declared that the party will win nine, and possibly 10, of the 15 seats in Kingston and St Andrew when the votes are counted on September 3.

Gordon, who was the chief organiser of Saturday’s rally, was adamant that the party mobilised supporters from only the 15 constituencies in Region Three for the event, although he accepted that Comrades from other parts of the island could be in the crowd of their own volition.

He was adamant that the crowd and the vibes signalled the strength of the PNP in Kingston and St Andrew, and declared that it will add to the seats it won in the 2020 General Election.

“The series of parish meetings culminated here because, outside of St Catherine, which has 17 seats, we have 15, which is the largest catchment for the People’s National Party. We are confident that we can win nine, and one is in play, so possibly 10,” Gordon told the Jamaica Observer.

The PNP now holds six of the seats in Kingston and St Andrew, with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) holding nine, but Gordon and his Comrades are confident that this will be reversed this time around.

“Let’s go back to the local government election of 2024 and you would have seen where we would have retained, comfortably, Central Kingston, we would have retained, comfortably, East Rural St Andrew, and we are very, very confident that we are also going to win Eastern St Andrew.

“The battlefield for us is West Rural St Andrew and the last numbers we have seen put Comrade Joan Gordon-Webley ahead of her opponent [Juliet Cuthbert Flynn],” added Gordon, as he projected that the PNP will win a minimum of 38 seats across the island.

He scoffed at claims that he will struggle to hang on to the St Andrew East Central seat, which has been held by Dr Peter Phillips since 1994.

Political newcomer Davion Vassell is expected to be nominated tomorrow to contest the seat on a JLP ticket, and he has expressed confidence that he will pull off a win in a constituency his party has never won in a contested election.

Vassell, in a recent Sunday Observer interview, pointed to the trend that shows a decline in PNP votes in the constituency, with Phillips beating the JLP’s Beverly Prince by approximately 2,300 votes in 2016 — which was until then the smallest margin of victory for the former PNP president in some six times at the poll.

That margin was further reduced in 2020, with political neophyte Jodian Myrie giving Phillips a scare, as she lost by fewer than 1,000 votes, and Vassell is confident that he is poised to create history.

But Gordon, the sitting councillor for the Maxfield Division in the constituency, told the Sunday Observer that he will secure a massive victory.

“I don’t know what he [Vassell] is looking at, but I am going to win by biggest margin since 2011. My canvas tells me that I am poised to gather over 7,000 votes. Talk is cheap, and to ensure you get the realisation, let me break it down for you.

“In 2024 Local Government Election, we were back at 2,500 margin [of victory]. The JLP’s best output ever was 2011 when they polled 4,774 votes. I don’t have to poll one extra vote outside of what we did in the local government election to retain the seat by over 700 votes. I am going to win and I am going to be announced early,” declared Gordon, as he pointed to a seven-point plan which he intends to deliver after being elected.

He said the plan targets support for the elderly, as the numbers show that by 2030, 60 per cent of the population in St Andrew East Central will be among the elderly. Gordon said support for the youth, improvements in the housing stock, and titles for people who have been occupying premises for decades are also included in his plan.

According to Gordon, he will be working with the civic groups in the constituency to determine the projects to be financed through the Constituency Development Fund and will donate 50 per cent of his Member of Parliament salary to these groups to spend as they see fit.

In the meantime, the PNP Region Three chairman said talk about the JLP’s Donovan Williams retaining the key Kingston Central seat is misguided.

“All the numbers that we have looked at are trending in the right direction, Steve [McGregor] is ahead in all the polls we have seen and the hype around those [JLP] candidates is simply hype.

“We have done the work, and we are not walking around talking about ‘shower Labourites’ or ‘power’, we are doing diligent work. We have looked at the polls, we have looked at our canvas and we know exactly where we are. I am confident that Steve McGregor will win, and win comfortably,” added Gordon, as he pointed to the strong performance of the PNP candidates in Kingston Central in the 2024 Local Government Election.

Pointing the upbeat crowd on Saturday, Gordon told the Sunday Observer that he has not seen the base of the PNP this energised since 2011, with scores of Comrades who have not been active for some time now out on the hustings.

“Every time certain faces come to public meetings it tells you the temperature of the People’s National Party. I have never seen the energy this high…and the demand for shirts, armbands, caps is overwhelming. I have done 3,500 shirts and I am in the middle of printing another 1,000 shirts,” said Gordon as he pointed out that he travelled to the meeting in a convoy of 70 vehicles, “and on nomination day it will be 200 cars”.

People’s National Party standard-bearer for Kingston Central Steve McGregor is all smiles as he greets supporters during the final parish rally in Cross Roads, St Andrew, ahead of the general election on September 3. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Chairman of the People’s National Party’s Region Three Dennis Gordon (second right) arrives in Cross Roads, St Andrew, for the political party’s final parish rally ahead of the September 3 General Election. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

People’s National Party supporters in a jubilant mood on Saturday at the political party’s rally in Cross Roads, St Andrew. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)