PNP’s Jacqueline Lewis cruises to victory
THE PEOPLE’S National Par ty (PNP) has retained the Norman Gardens division with an emphatic win in yesterday’s byelection.
Jacqueline Lewis, former principal of Rennock Lodge AllAge School in Rockfort, easily scored victory at the polls over the Jamaica Labour Par ty ’s Headley Wilson.
When the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) counted the votes Lewis accumulated 2,062 votes to Wilson’s 124. The EOJ reported a 16 per cent voter turnout for the Norman Gardens division.
JACQUELINE LEWIS, the victorious People’s National Par ty candidate in yesterday’s by-election in the Norman Gardens division of East Kingston, has credited her Jamaica Labour Par ty (JLP) opponent, Headley Wilson, for his determination to achieve a political win at the local level.
“He’s a regular campaigner for the JLP, but he does not know how to win,” Lewis quipped.
Wilson told The Gleaner that he had represented the JLP three times at the local level and once in national elections. However, he is yet to be rewarded by the electorate for his efforts.
Yesterday, Wilson was not shy to declare that he had a chance to be the next councillor after the ballots are counted.
“It’ s a race, two people involved in the race, we must have a winner. I am hoping to be the winner. I am confident I am going to be the winner.”
The PNP has a political stranglehold on the Norman Gardens Division, with t he party’s vice-president, Dr Angella Brown Burke, relinquishing her post as councillor, last year, after taking aim and succeeding at becoming member of parliament for St Andrew South West. Lewis has pledged to focus on youth development in the division and to provide support to the elderly who are in need.
When the Gleaner news team visited Windward Road Primary members of the security forces were out in their numbers, but the same could not be said for voters. Checks at other polling stations reflected the apparent apathy of voters in the division.