MONTEGO BAY, St James — St James Central is shaping up to be one of those edge-of-the-seat contests when the votes are counted on September 3.

Aiming for a third term in Parliament, Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Heroy Clarke finds himself in a dog-fight with the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Janice Allen.

The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) reports 32,520 voters in the constituency but in 2020 only 10,063 ballots were counted with Clarke polling 6,456 to defeat the PNP’s Andre Hylton, who managed 3,607.

Clarke first grabbed the seat in 2016 with victory over the PNP’s Ashley-Ann Foster. In that election Clarke picked up 6,887 to Foster’s 4,968.

His 2020 victory made Clarke the first person to successfully hold the seat in consecutive elections.

St James Central has had a varied electoral history with Dr Herbert Eldemire being the first to win the seat in 1967 on a JLP ticket, turning back the challenge of the PNP’s Herbert Morrison.

Francis Tulloch took it home for the PNP in 1972, defeating the JLP’s Tony Hart before the constituency was abandoned in 1976 due to boundary changes.

It was recreated in 2011 and newspaper publisher Lloyd B Smith, running on a PNP ticket, defeated Clarke.

But, with Smith not on the ballot, Clarke returned in 2016 and has made it his own for the past nine years.

However, newcomer Allen is determined to turn the tables on Clarke to become the first female to be elected to represent the people of Rose Heights, Farm Heights, Green Pond, Salt Spring, Mount Salem, and other communities.

Clarke, a Salt Spring native, told the Jamaica Observer that once he was encouraged to enter representational politics at the municipal level he knew there was only one constituency for him.

“This is where I would have to be, I would have to be amongst my people,” said Clarke.

“I had no intention at the time to be involved in politics, even though I know exactly where my head space is when it comes on to governance. In 1997, I met up with Dr [Horace] Chang and he asked me to be responsible for the youth in north-west. At that time, this area was a part of North West St James, and he asked me in 1996 to start marshalling the situation where the youth of North West St James were concerned,” Clarke added.

He said he went on represent the Rose Heights Division, as it was named at the time, in the St James Parish Council. That division has since been renamed Montego Bay South East.

“A neophyte to representational politics, I went head on into it with the aim of learning and it was the people of Rose Heights who brought me to their school and taught me the ins and outs of representational politics at the local level. Ever since then, that situation has catapulted me to where I am,” Clarke explained.

It was a different introduction for Allen who has been close to politics from an early age, given that her father, Glover Allen, was PNP councillor for the Granville Division in the St James Parish Council.

The expectation had always been that she would follow in her father’s footsteps and enter representational politics though she told the Observer that the move has come earlier than expected.

“Where I started in the Senate, it was natural to consider at some point, this path. It has come sooner than I thought, but I welcome the opportunity to serve St James, and in particular St James Central, in a way that can make a lasting impact or impression,” said Allen.

St James Central is home to three municipal divisions — Montego Bay South, Montego Bay South East, and Salt Spring — which are now held by JLP councillors following the 2024 Local Government Election.

It is also home to the economic hub that is the western city of Montego Bay, and the major dormitory community of Cornwall Courts making it, despite its size, the commercial and social centre of St James.

“Geographically, it is not big, but when it comes to social amenities and infrastructural work it is very, very huge, considering the fact that the town centre forms the oasis of the parish, which is dead centre my consistency,” Clarke explained.

Montego Bay is of particular concern to Allen, who told the Observer she has big plans for the city.

“There’s a lot to be done, our city deserves attention. It deserves focused attention to ensure that we revitalise what we have, the gem that we have in our hands. The centre of our town, the parish centre of Montego Bay, has been left unattended for too long and we have to create a space and an environment so that the future can seem more hopeful, where it can become more hopeful, especially for youth, who many right now believe that the path to a successful life is outside of Jamaica,” declared Allen.

“I want to create the example and create the environment where people, young people especially, believe that they can have their future right here in Montego Bay and that is why I’m so focused on ensuring that we attract more businesses to set up their headquarters here so that we can build out the middle class and not be too dependent on only tourism and business process outsourcing (BPO),” added Allen.

The first-time candidate has also insisted that she will work to get water to residents in the constituency, highlighting shortfalls in areas such as Rose Heights and promising to rehabilitate four water tanks in that community if she is successful in her quest to become the next Member of Parliament.

But Clarke is adamant that much has been done to improve the lot of the people of the constituency and has vowed to do even more if re-elected.

“Running water in the entire constituency with Rose Heights being paramount because when I started out as councillor…90 per cent of [the residents of] Rose Heights were still going to that a standpipe to catch water,” said Clarke.

“We have seen…the tune of $137 million spent on a water project for Flower Hill, which at that time wasn’t getting water for three decades. We have seen a $237-million upgrade to the water system for Salt Spring itself from Quarry all the way up to Tank Lane and Meggie Top again,” added Clarke.

He told the Observer that during his tenure, he has overseen work done through the Rural Electrification Programme to provide the utility to constituents.

Clarke also pointed to road work that has taken place in several communities in the constituency and the rehabilitation of a number of community centres in the space.

According to Clarke, the North Gully drain has also received much-needed attention and he plans to do more there.

The incumbent declared that more is to come during his third term particularly in the area of land ownership for the residents of St James Central.

“I keep saying to people that we have a constituency, when I got it was 77 per cent informal. We want to change that and it is not something that will change overnight because it is cultural and it is infrastructural.

“Part and parcel of it we want to make sure in the near future — something that we have started already — we are working closely with HAJ (Housing Agency of Jamaica) and NHT (National Housing Trust) to regularise the persons within the Rose Heights area. As you know, Rose Heights is the largest informal settlement in Jamaica,” said Clarke.

“And for that reason we want to make sure that at the end of it all, the end result is that each person, householder, will have a piece of paper, that they can say, ‘Yes, I am the holder of this lot of land in Jamaica, and be somebody’,” added Clarke..

The JLP standard-bearer also promised that if re-elected he will provide leadership that is inclusive and progressive to continue the development of the constituency.

In the meantime, Allen has insisted that she will represent all the people should they elect her.

“They deserve an advocate, the people deserve a better life and that better life will come as of September 3 when they vote for the PNP and vote for me to have the honour to serve them, because I intend to serve and be someone who serves with honour and accountability and representation and respectability and being available to the people,” declared Allen.

People’s National Party candidate for St James Central Janice Allen (centre) pauses to enjoy a moment with singers and drummers as she made her way to the nomination centre at St James Parish Church on August 18, 2025.

CLARKE… this is where I would have to be, I would have to be amongst my people

ALLEN… I welcome the opportunity to serve St James, and in particular St James Central

Jamaica Labour Party candidate for St James Central Heroy Clarke (centre), with his supporters on nomination day for the September 3 General Election.