Jamaica’s Labour Party (JLP) was declared winner of the 2016 general elections after they won 33 of the 63 constituency seats. The People’s National Party (PNP) won 30 of the constituency seats in a tight race.

Labour Party’s win came as a shock to the PNP who believed the competition was tight but did not expect to lose seats. Before the results were declared, the deputy national secretary of the PNP, Julian Robinson was quoted as saying “we have clearly lost a number of seats but the overall picture is very close so we will wait on the final figures” After it became clear that the votes favoured the Labour Party, Julian Robinson further revealed “we knew a number of seats were close but we obviously never expected to lose that many. We knew there were some marginals but we expected to win some of the marginals.”

Voters who had grown tired of IMF-imposed austerity measures resonated with the message of the Labour Party on deep tax cuts and extensive job creation.

Andrew Holness promised the Jamaican people of creating jobs, and to create an accountable and responsive government including resolving housing and health care issues.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller conceded defeat to Labour Party after wiping only 30 seats. She is Jamaica’s first female head of state, and opinion polls prior to the elections showed victory for her after her strides in sustaining Jamaica’s economy.

At Labour Party’s headquarters in Kingston, supporters of the party gathered to jubilate and celebrate the success of the party, waving flags and dancing to a song called “bye bye Portia, bye bye”

*Ps-Photo of Portia gotten from channelsnewsasia.com

Holness’s photo gotten from Jamaica-gleaner.com