One ‘Warmy’ | Veteran MP secures sixth term, as JLP win close election

Warmington, 73, polled 10,607 votes to beat back the challenge of main rival Dr Kurt Waul of the People’s National Party (PNP) who received 8,488 ballots in his favour. Gilbert Alexander Edwards, the president of the Jamaica Progressive Party (JPP), got 97 votes. 

Warmington's triumph helped the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) secure a third successive term in office, with Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness becoming the first Labour leader to achieve such a feat. 

At the end of all preliminary counts, the JLP is projected to win 34 of the 63 parliamentary seats. 

The events capped a grueling political contest that ran for several months with many talking points and subplots that will surely continue for days and months ahead. As predicted by pollsters it was a close contest with the JLP edging the nail-biter. 

However, here in the southwest of St Catherine, Dr Waul did manage to narrow the 5,101 margin he lost to the incumbent in 2020. But this time around it proved to be a chasm far too wide for the affable 47-year-old medical doctor who will most likely take some time off to rethink his next move. But he has every reason to be proud of his gallant efforts. After all, his polled numbers put him second highest in votes received by a PNP candidate in the constituency behind the late Rudyard ‘Kippy’ Mears who got 8,639 votes in 2016. 

For Warmington it's another massive vote of confidence and the manner of this victory will reaffirm his belief that he has the winning formula.

Though fiercely contested, this election, at least in this constituency, marks a defining moment in our politics. 

Both sets of party supporters showed exemplary maturity throughout the day, and another significant step away from the antagonistic and violent elections of yesteryear. 

As our team roamed all four divisions we observed rival supporters engaging each other in friendly banter and embrace. The high point of this was at the Old Harbour Primary School - locations of polling divisions #27 and #28 - where Labourites were observed dancing and prancing to the PNP's political hit song ‘Blood and Fire’ blaring from the speakers of a mobile car for some 20 minutes. 

Cassandra Pryce, a staunch JLP activist, expressed high confidence that Warmington will retain the seat for another term  but said after all is said and done Jamaica comes first.

“Today you could see the peace and harmony. You don't have any chaos on the scene… both parties a interact same way because a just one love same way,” she tells Old Harbour News from polling division #6 at Bartons Primary School. 

That the count coming out of the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) for the constituency was very slow did not help nervous supporters from either side after the polls closed at 5:00 pm. However by the time 73 percent of ballots cast in southwest were tallied, Warmington emerged with a commanding lead that proved decisive in the end.

Now that the dust has settled the  new Holness administration will govern with a smaller majority and is likely to face a sterner test navigating the political waters. 

Warmington for sure will savour this victory with a few spirited sips preferably on the rocks as he overcame a worthy opponent in Dr Waul. 

This could also possibly be his final hoorah in representational politics as he saunters into his twilight years. 

He often talks about his legacy and what that could look like. After being given yet another mandate by the majority here, he has at least one more term to engrave his final inscription in southwest St Catherine.