CHAIRMAN of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Communication Taskforce Abka Fitz-Henley has described the result of the keenly contested race in Kingston Central in the recent general election as especially pleasing for the party.

The JLP finished the election with 35 seats to the People’s National Party (PNP) 28, with Fitz-Henley pointing to the battle between the incumbent Donovan Williams and the PNP’s Steve McGregor as one which reflects the value of hard work.

According to Fitz-Henley, Williams was rewarded for the “tremendous work” he put into the seat.

After initially being declared the loser by 12 votes on election night, following the end of the official count, Williams was confirmed as receiving 4,832 votes to McGregor’s 4,753 — winning by 79.

“The victory for Donovan in Kingston Central is particularly pleasing because it reinforces the notion that fewer seats in Jamaica are to be considered safe seats,” Fitz-Henley told the Jamaica Observer.

“Central Kingston, over many years, was considered a PNP stronghold. It is the former constituency of [late Prime Minister] Michael Manley. However, Donovan put in the work and we got the result. I think his win is good for our political and democratic processes in Jamaica because it shows that many of our people are willing to reward honest and dedicated service,” added Fitz-Henley.

He pointed to the moniker given to Williams by residents, ‘Impact Boss’, and argued that, “this is a testament to a number of transformational programmes the MP-elect has pursued including at least eight social houses, renovation of the Fleet Street housing scheme, zinc removal programmes and his presence in Central Kingston at a time of great need including when fire destroyed houses on Ladd Lane.”

Fitz-Henley told the Observer that targeted enumeration exercises resulted in Williams putting himself in a stronger position to resist the challenge by McGregor, a former senior cop who left his job as head of security at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus to enter representational politics.

“Donovan increased his numbers in the just-concluded election by 209 votes when compared to 2020. Had he not done so, he would not been able to overcome McGregor’s 4,753 votes which was more than both Imani [Duncan Price] and Donovan had individually tallied in the 2016 election.

“Donovan is a hard-working MP. He deals with people fairly regardless of political persuasion. The Prime Minister [Dr Andrew Holness] went to Central Kingston a few days before election as well and connected with residents, while outlining his vision for communities in the constituency. That helped greatly to seal the deal,” said Fitz-Henley.

He also credited the win to incisive implementation of strategy and hailed the contribution of former PNP caretaker Lawrence Rowe who helped to marshal proceedings in the PNP’s stronghold of Allman Town where Williams cut into the Opposition party’s numbers.

“Rowe is a political whiz kid in Central Kingston. He knows where the votes are and got them out. He knows the people and is respected by them. I’ve been on the ground in Central Kingston a few times and I have seen Rowe and Donovan combine efforts in so-called PNP strongholds.

“This election win is particularly pleasing as the PNP threw everything they had at us…but we maintained our cool, executed on the day, and prevailed,” added Fitz-Henley.