The Jamaica Labour Party's Joan Gordon-Webley in discussion with Deputy Commissioner of PoliceMark Shields, following a shooting on Deanery Road in South East St. Andrew, yesterday. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

Lawrence 'Laurie' Broderick of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) yesterday ousted the 18-year incumbent and People's National Party (PNP) frontman, Horace Dalley, in North Clarendon.

It was not Broderick's first time trying to sideline the veteran. He tried unsuccessfully in 2002, losing to Dalley by 627 votes. Last night, it was Dalley who was on the other side of the fence looking over as Broderick took home the seat for his party.

Pollsters and analysts had been pointing to the seat for some time now as one of those likely to be affected by the wave of anti-incumbency sweeping across the island, as Dalley's majority slid significantly to the advantage of a more-organised Broderick.

There has been a huge feeling of neglect over the years, owing to a shoddy road network and inadequate potable water in North Clarendon. Dalley tried to save his fall from grace in his final days by giving two communities in the constituency electricity for the first time and a health centre after 18 years, but that clearly was not enough to save him from the sharks.

The out-of-towner Broderick, an attorney-at-law, has now returned a seat to the JLP that was traditionally JLP before 1989, when Dalley won.

( L - R ) DALlEY, BRODERICK