MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Even as he faced People’s National Party (PNP) heavyweight Peter Bunting at the polls on Wednesday, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for Manchester Southern Ian Ives said while he is confident of victory, whatever the outcome of the election, he will stay with his people in the constituency.

“I will never leave the people, because I live in this constituency and I love this constituency, so I will forever be supporting the constituency,” he told journalists in Porus, Manchester, shortly before the close of polls.

“I want to win. The people deserve better representation, so here I am. I want to serve this constituency and serve my country… and lift south Manchester to another level,” he said.

Ives said he was successful in reuniting the JLP’s base in the constituency.

“I am not nervous about it. We did the work. I reunited the Jamaica Labour Party supporters, and we are expected to win and win by a big margin, too. We have a lot of work for this constituency. We have a lot of issues with roads, with water, with infrastructure development, with clinics….” he said.

— Kasey Williams

(Video: Kasey Williams)