PNP’s Knight wants to turn tables on McDonald after one-vote defeat in Toll Gate
THE PEOPLE’S National Party’s (PNP) Godfrey Knight, the former councillor for the Toll Gate division in Clarendon South Western, says his nomination for the upcoming polls is an opportunity for renewed service and the first step to his return to the Clarendon Municipal Corporation.
Nine candidates – four each for the PNP and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and one independent – were on Thursday nominated at the Zada Webley Hall in Four Paths to contest divisions in the Clarendon South Western constituency.
The last local government elections, which were held in 2016, saw the JLP dominating the Clarendon Municipal Corporation with 14 councillors to the PNP’s eight.
Knight (1,510) lost his seat in the 2016 election by one vote to the JLP’s Radcliffe McDonald (1,511).
Seemingly undeterred by that 2016 defeat, Knight expressed resilience and optimism, asserting himself as the people’s choice.
He told The Gleaner that his reinstatement as councillor was inevitable.
“I am more confident than ever,” Knight said following his nomination.
“My opponent, up to yesterday (Wednesday), he went to an area to put up signs, and the people ran him away,” he added. According to Knight, the division has experienced significant deterioration since his departure from the municipality. “When I look at the roads – Rock Road, Scotts Pass, Mount Airy, Stewarton Gully – those roads are in a very deplorable condition and need immediate attention, and that I will [address them] when I am elected councillor on the 26th [of February],” said Knight.
Knight and Carlton Bailey, the candidate for the Milk River division, are the PNP’s only two returning candidates. In this election, Bailey is facing a fresh challenge from newcomer Sujaye Foxton, an event planner, who has indicated in his manifesto that his plans are geared at making a meaningful impact in the realms of youth empowerment, ecological and economic development, as well as social and infrastructural progress.
PNP newcomers Kijana Johnson and Pastor Anthony Davis are representing the Race Course and York Town divisions, respectively.
The Race Course division is currently headed by the JLP’s Pauline Reynolds, who received 52 per cent of the votes in the 2016 elections.
The PNP replaced former councillor Uphel Purcell as its candidate in the York Town division. Purcell had been at the helm of the division since 1998. Purcell managed to poll 60 per cent of the votes in the last election, attaining 1,107 votes to the JLP’s Gavaska Plummer’s 720 votes. Newcomer Omar Henry is representing the JLP in the York Town division.
Outside the nomination centre, it was pandemonium as an entourage of bell-ringing JLP supporters passed through Four Paths Square, where a throng of PNP supports had gathered outside Member of Parliament Lothan Cousin’s office.
Orville Mitchell, the returning officer for Clarendon South Western, told journalists outside the nomination centre that the proceedings inside, however, were remarkably smooth. He noted, too, that a second independent person had turned up to be nominated without luck as he did not meet all the requirements and had no one to nominate him.
The individual did not indicate which division he had hoped to represent.