Constituency profiles - Westmoreland Eastern - Runner-up position for JLP
By Anthony Myers, Contributor
THE JLP will have to settle for the runner-up position in the upcoming general election in Westmoreland Eastern.
Thirty-two constituents were fixed in the new constitution granted to Jamaica in 1944. Westmoreland Eastern was among the 32 as the parish was divided into Eastern and Western.
Of the 12 contested Parliamentary General Elections 1944 to 1997, Westmoreland Eastern featured in seven. This is due to the Constituencies (Boundaries) Order 1966, made by the Governor-General, under Section 67 of the Constitution of Jamaica which came into operation on January 3, 1967, increasing the number of constituencies from 45 to 53. The parish of Westmoreland was given two additional constituencies bringing the total number to four.
The boundaries were redrawn with the constituencies renamed - Westmoreland Western, Central, North Eastern, South Eastern. It was not until the 1992 boundaries realignment that the number of constituencies was reduced from four to three with three new constituencies created - Westmoreland Western, Central and Eastern. With no significant increase in the voting population since 1944 (25.3%) to warrant four constituencies, a decision was taken to reduce the number of seats by one and increase the number of seats in St. Catherine from eight to nine. The voting population of St. Catherine moved significantly from 44,329 in 1944 to 149,746 (237.8% increase) in 1992.
Six of the seven Parliamentary General Elections in Westmoreland Eastern, 1949, 1955, 1959, 1962, 1993 and 1997, were won by the PNP. The 1944 election was won by Fred. L.B. Evans who ran as an Independent. By polling 3,725 votes (32.6% of A/B) F.L.B. Evans defeated the JLP candidate John O. Ramsay by 727 votes. There were four other Independent candidates whose total support surpassed that of F.L.B Evans (4,706 -41.2% of A/B).
In 1949 F.L.B. Evans running on the PNP ticket devastated his four opponents by polling 9,208 votes (71.8%) to 2,524 (19.7%) for his nearest rival E.W. Wakeland (JLP). In 1955 Maxwell S. Carey who replaced F.L.B. Evans as the PNP candidate put his seven opponents "to the sword" by polling 6,395 votes (52% of A/B). The JLP candidate Winston B. Williams polled a mere 984 votes (8% of A/B).
The story is told that F.L.B. Evans shifted from Westmoreland Eastern to contest the Westmoreland Western constituency in 1955 after having advised the incumbent Clifford C. Campbell (JLP), of his intended conquest of the Western Westmoreland seat. Having won the Western Westmoreland seat in 1944 by a massive 8,590 majority over Gilbert Mitchell (IND). and annihilated his PNP opponent Walter James Tomlinson in 1949 by a majority of 6,827, Clifford Campbell scoffed at the challenge. History records that F.L.B. Evans carried out his "western design" on January 12, 1955. By polling 11,087 votes he defeated by 2,079, Clifford Campbell who polled 9,008, a most remarkable feat. Maxwell Carey continued the shutout of the JLP in Westmoreland Eastern by winning the seat in 1959 and 1962 with large majorities.
In 1993 Percival James Patterson (PNP), polled 8,468 votes to 2,708 for Stafford Earle (JLP), a majority of 5,760. In 1997 the voters' list increased by 1,977 (10.9%) over the 1993 list. The incumbent once again defeated his JLP opponent by a landslide polling 9,874 votes to 3,733 for Daniel Dawes (JLP), and a mere 174 for the NDM candidate Steadman Roache. So for the seventh time the JLP challenge in Westmoreland Eastern proved futile. It is interesting to note that Westmoreland Eastern is the only constituency created in Jamaica since 1944 where the JLP has never had a Parliament representative. With no significant increase in the current voters' list a mere 725 (3.4%) the JLP will have to settle for the runner-up position. The problem is, there is no prize for coming second in a race of this nature.
General Elections (Summary)
1959 - 1997
Westmoreland Eastern
1944
E/L 21,477
B/C 12,862
A/B 11,429
R/B 1,433
Fred L.B. Evans, IND 3,725
Walter Malton O'Meally, IND 1,124
Sydney George Phillip, IND 422
John O. Ramsay, JLP 2,998
Maurice Hugh Segre, IND 1,966
Astley S. Yates, IND 1,194
1949
E/L 21, 555
B/C 13, 376
A/B 12, 818
R/B 588
Fred L.B. Evans, PNP 9,208
John O. Ramsay, IND 372
Leturn E. Scott, IND 465
E.W. Wakeland, JLP 2,524
Winston B. Williams, AIP 249
1955
E/L 21,746
B/C 13,164
A/B 12,296
R/B 238
A.M Barker, IND 474
M.S. Carey, PNP 6,395
A.L Evans, IND 208
G.E Foster, IND 105
C.A. Johnston, IND 934
C.W. Swaby, IND 1,655
E.W. Wakeland, FP 2,171
Winston B. Williams, JLP 984
1959
E/L 17,548
B/C 10,739
A/B 10,603
R/B 136
Maxwell S. Carey, PNP 7,460
Fred L.B. Evans, JIM 115
Muchell L. Pinnock, JLP 3,028
1962
E/L 16,134
B/C 10,467
A/B 10,379
R/B 88
Winford G. Brown, JLP 3,939
Maxwell S. Carey, PNP 6,240
George L. Wiggan, PPP 200
1993
E/L 18,172
B/C 11,241
A/B 11,176
R/B 65
Stafford Earle, JLP 2,708
Percival J. Patterson, PNP 8,468
1997
E/L 20,149
B/C 13,919 (69.1%)
A/B 13,781 (99.0%)
R/B 138 (1.0%)
PJ Patterson, PNP 9,874 (71.6%)
Daniel Dawes, JLP 3,733 (27.1%)
Steadman Roache, NDM 174 (1.3%)
NOTE: E/L: Electors on List
B/C: Ballots Cast
A/B: Accepted Ballots
R/B: Rejected Ballots
Anthony Myers is a statistician and political analyst who has done work for the Electoral Office of Jamaica and for the People's National Party. NEXT: St. Elizabeth North Western.
GENERAL ELECTION (PARLIAMENTARY) PROJECTION 2002
