2020 Jamaican general election

General elections were held in Jamaica on Thursday, 3 September 2020^[1] to elect 63 members of Parliament. As the constitution stipulates a five-year parliamentary term,^[2] the next elections were not expected until between 25 February and 10 June 2021. However, Prime Minister Andrew Holness called early elections to ensure a united response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On the advice of Holness, Governor General Patrick Allen dissolved Parliament on 13 August 2020.^[3]

2020 Jamaican general election

← 2016 3 September 2020 2025 →
All 63 seats in the House of Representatives 32 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	37.85% ( 10.52pp)
First party Second party   Leader Andrew Holness Peter Phillips Party JLP PNP Last election 50.08%, 32 seats 49.71%, 31 seats Seats won 49 14 Seat change 17 17 Popular vote 408,376 305,950 Percentage 57.07% 42.76% Swing 6.99pp 6.95pp
Results by constituency (vote strength) Results by constituency (winners)
Prime Minister before election Andrew Holness JLP Prime Minister after election Andrew Holness JLP

The result was a landslide victory for the ruling Jamaica Labour Party,^[4] which received 57% of the vote and won 49 seats; the People's National Party remained the opposition party, losing 16 seats.^[5] Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019–2020 dengue fever epidemic, voter turnout was only 38%,^[6] the lowest in an election since 1983.^[7]

Background

Prior to the election, the Jamaica Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, formed a majority government. The largest opposition party was the People's National Party, led by Peter Phillips. Either the Jamaica Labour Party or the People's National Party have been in power since universal suffrage was introduced in 1944.^[8]

Electoral system

The 63 members of the House of Representatives are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.^[9] Voters must be 18 years and over and be a citizen of Jamaica or a Commonwealth citizen.^[10]

The leader of the party commanding a majority of support in the House of Representatives is called on by the Governor General to form a government as Prime Minister,^[11] while the leader of the largest group or coalition not in government becomes the Leader of the Opposition.^[12]

Campaign

Only two parties registered to contest the election, the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party, and each nominated candidates in all 63 constituencies. The two parties agreed to participate in three televised debates hosted by the Jamaica Debates Commission.^[13]

The People's National Party campaigned for a referendum on removing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.^[14]

On 15 August 2020, the pastors of the Christian right Jamaica Progressive Party announced that the party would not contest the elections due to lack of time to prepare.^[15]

Contesting parties

Party		Position	Ideology	Leader (since)	Last election	At dissolution	Contested
	Jamaica Labour Party	Centre-right	Nationalism[16][17][18] Fiscal conservatism[19] Populism Conservatism[20][21][22] Republicanism Fabianism (originally)[18]	Andrew Holness (January 2010)	32 / 63 (51%)	34 / 63 (54%)	63
	People's National Party	Centre-left	Social democracy Democratic socialism Populism Republicanism[23]	Peter Phillips (November 2017)	31 / 63 (49%)	29 / 63 (46%)	63

Slogans and songs

Party		Slogan	Official song
	JLP	"Build back stronger."[24]	#GreenLight[25]
	PNP	"Building your Jamaica."[26]	Building Your Jamaica: #VotePNP2020[27]

Incumbent MPs not seeking re-election

Seven members of parliament did not stand for re-election:^[28]

Retiring incumbent			Electoral District	Term in office	Reason	Date announced	Replaced as MP by
	Robert Pickersgill	PNP	Saint Catherine North Western	1989–2020	Not standing	22 August 2017[29]		Hugh Graham
	Evon Redman	PNP	Saint Elizabeth North Eastern	2016–2020	Not standing	10 May 2018[30]		Delroy Slowley
	Derrick Kellier	PNP	Saint James Southern	1987–2020	Not standing	28 May 2018[31]		Homer Davis
	Ronald Thwaites	PNP	Kingston Central	1997–2020	Not standing	22 May 2019[32]		Donovan Williams
	Noel Arscott	PNP	Clarendon South Western	2007–2020	Not standing	14 September 2019[33]		Luthon Cousins
	Shahine Robinson	JLP	Saint Ann North Eastern	2001–2020	Died in office	29 May 2020[34]		Marsha Smith
	Leslie Campbell	JLP	Saint Catherine North Eastern	2016–2020	Not standing	26 June 2020[35]		Kerensia Morrison

Candidates

Candidate nominations were finalised on nomination day, 18 August 2020.^[1] The full candidate list is presented below,^[36] along with the incumbent candidates before the election.^[37] MPs who are not standing for re-election are marked (†). Government ministers are in bold,^[38] and party leaders are in italics.

Clarendon Parish

Electoral District	Candidates						Incumbent
	JLP		PNP		Other
Clarendon Central		Michael Henry		Zuleika Jess				Michael Henry
Clarendon North Central		Robert Nesta Morgan		Desmond Brennan				Pearnel Charles
Clarendon North Western		Phillip Henriquez		Richard Azan		Merrick Cohen (Ind.)		Richard Azan
Clarendon Northern		Dwight Sibblies		Horace Dalley				Horace Dalley
Clarendon South Eastern		Pearnel Charles Jr		Patricia Duncan Sutherland				Pearnel Charles Jr
Clarendon South Western		Kent Gammon		Lothan Cousins				† Noel Arscott

Hanover Parish

Electoral District	Candidates				Incumbent
	JLP		PNP
Hanover Eastern		Dave Hume-Brown		Wavell Hinds		Dave Hume-Brown
Hanover Western		Tamika Davis		Ian Hayles		Ian Hayles

Kingston Parish

Electoral District	Candidates				Incumbent
	JLP		PNP
Kingston Central		Donovan Williams		Imani Duncan-Price		† Ronald Thwaites
Kingston East & Port Royal		Egwugwu Priestly		Phillip Paulwell		Phillip Paulwell
Kingston Western		Desmond McKenzie		Joseph Witter		Desmond McKenzie

Manchester Parish

Electoral District	Candidates						Incumbent
	JLP		PNP		Other
Manchester Central		Rhoda Moy Crawford		Peter Bunting		Rohan Chung (Ind.)		Peter Bunting
Manchester North Eastern		Audley Shaw		Donald Jackson				Audley Shaw
Manchester North Western		Damion Young		Mikael Phillips				Mikael Phillips
Manchester Southern		Robert Chin		Michael Stewart				Michael Stewart

Portland Parish

Electoral District	Candidates				Incumbent
	JLP		PNP
Portland Eastern		Ann-Marie Vaz		Bishop Purcell Jackson		Ann-Marie Vaz
Portland Western		Daryl Vaz		Valerie Neita Robertson		Daryl Vaz

Saint Andrew Parish

Electoral District	Candidates				Incumbent
	JLP		PNP
Saint Andrew East Central		Jodian Myrie		Peter Phillips		Peter Phillips
Saint Andrew East Rural		Juliet Holness		Joan Gordon-Webley		Juliet Holness
Saint Andrew Eastern		Fayval Williams		Venesha Phillips		Fayval Williams
Saint Andrew North Central		Karl Samuda		O'Neil Lynch		Karl Samuda
Saint Andrew North Eastern		Delroy Chuck		David Tulloch		Delroy Chuck
Saint Andrew North Western		Nigel Clarke		Rohan Banks		Nigel Clarke
Saint Andrew South Eastern		Kari Douglas		Julian Robinson		Julian Robinson
Saint Andrew South Western		Moureen Lorne		Angela Brown-Burke		Angela Brown-Burke
Saint Andrew Southern		Victor Hyde		Mark Golding		Mark Golding
Saint Andrew West Central		Andrew Holness		Patrick Roberts		Andrew Holness
Saint Andrew West Rural		Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn		Krystal Tomlinson		Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn
Saint Andrew Western		Dorlan Francis		Anthony Hylton		Anthony Hylton

Saint Ann Parish

Electoral District	Candidates						Incumbent
	JLP		PNP		Other
Saint Ann North Eastern		Marsha Smith		Keith Brown				Marsha Smith"
Saint Ann North Western		Krystal Lee		Dayton Campbell		Peter Shand (Ind.)		Krystal Lee
Saint Ann South Eastern		Delroy Granston		Lisa Hanna				Lisa Hanna
Saint Ann South Western		Zavia Mayne		Valenton Wint				Zavia Mayne

Saint Catherine Parish

Electoral District	Candidates						Incumbent
	JLP		PNP		Other
Saint Catherine Central		Olivia Grange		Maurice Westney				Olivia Grange
Saint Catherine East Central		Alando Terrelonge		Raymond Pryce				Alando Terrelonge
Saint Catherine Eastern		Dwight Pecoo		Denise Daley				Denise Daley
Saint Catherine North Central		Natalie Campbell Rodriques		Natalie Neita-Headley		John Henry (Ind.) Lloyd Smith (Ind.)		Natalie Neita-Headley
Saint Catherine North Eastern		Kerensia Morrison		Oswest Senior-Smith				† Leslie Campbell
Saint Catherine North Western		Newton Amos		Hugh Graham		Gene Guthrie (Ind.)		† Robert Pickersgill
Saint Catherine South Central		Andrew Wheatley		Kurt Matthews				Andrew Wheatley
Saint Catherine South Eastern		Robert Miller		Colin Fagan				Colin Fagan
Saint Catherine South Western		Everald Warmington		Kurt Waul		Upton Blake (Ind.)		Everald Warmington
Saint Catherine Southern		Delroy Dobney		Fitz Jackson				Fitz Jackson
Saint Catherine West Central		Christopher Tufton		Kenyama Brown				Christopher Tufton

Saint Elizabeth Parish

Electoral District	Candidates				Incumbent
	JLP		PNP
Saint Elizabeth North Eastern		Delroy Slowley		Basil White		† Evon Redman
Saint Elizabeth North Western		William J.C. Hutchinson		Ryan Keating		William J.C. Hutchinson
Saint Elizabeth South Western		Floyd Green		Ewan Stephenson		Floyd Green
Saint Elizabeth South Eastern		Franklyn Witter		Dwaine Spencer		Franklyn Witter

Saint James Parish

Electoral District	Candidates						Incumbent
	JLP		PNP		Other
Saint James Central		Heroy Clarke		Andre Hylton		Ras-Astor Black (Ind.)		Heroy Clarke
Saint James East Central		Edmund Bartlett		Michael Hemmings				Edmund Bartlett
Saint James North Western		Horace Chang		George Hamilton				Horace Chang
Saint James Southern		Homer Davis		Walton Small				† Derrick Kellier
Saint James West Central		Marlene Malahoo Forte		Andre Haughton				Marlene Malahoo Forte

Saint Mary Parish

Electoral District	Candidates				Incumbent
	JLP		PNP
Saint Mary Central		Lennon Richards		Morais Guy		Morais Guy
Saint Mary South Eastern		Norman Dunn		Shane Alexis		Norman Dunn
Saint Mary Western		Robert Montague		Jason Stanford		Robert Montague

Saint Thomas Parish

Electoral District	Candidates				Incumbent
	JLP		PNP
Saint Thomas Eastern		Michelle Charles		Fenton Ferguson		Fenton Ferguson
Saint Thomas Western		James Robertson		Marsha Francis		James Robertson

Trelawny Parish

Electoral District	Candidates						Incumbent
	JLP		PNP		Other
Trelawny Northern		Tova Hamilton		Victor Wright Jnr		Genieve Dawkins (Ind.)		Victor Wright
Trelawny Southern		Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert		Lloyd Gillings		Richard Sharpe (Ind.)		Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert

Westmoreland Parish

Electoral District	Candidates						Incumbent
	JLP		PNP		Other
Westmoreland Central		George Wright (became independent MP in 2021[39])		Dwayne Vaz		George Wright (Ind.)[39] Torraino Beckford (Ind.) Don Foote (Ind.)[b 1]		Dwayne Vaz
Westmoreland Eastern[b 2]		Daniel Lawrence		Luther Buchanan		Haile Mika'el (Ind.)		Luther Buchanan
Westmoreland Western		Morland Wilson		Wykeham McNeill				Wykeham McNeill

1. Foote is a JLP member contesting the election independently as the "Jamaica Abolitionist Movement".^[40]
2. The initial count ended in a tie that was decided in favour of incumbent Luther Buchanan. However, Daniel Lawrence was declared the winner after a recount.^[41]

Marginal seats

The following lists identify and rank seats using the vote margin by which the party's candidate finished behind the winning candidate in the 2015 election. This vote margin is given as a percentage of all eligible voters in the district.

For information purposes only, seats that have changed hands through subsequent by elections have been noted. Seats whose members have changed party allegiance are ignored.

Marginal seats by party (with winning parties and margins from the 2016 Jamaican general election)

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)				People's National Party (PNP)
Marginal
1		Saint Mary South Eastern[a 1]	0.02%	1		Saint Catherine North Eastern	0.53%
2		Saint James Southern	0.24%	2		Saint Andrew Eastern	0.62%
3		Saint Ann North Western	1.18%	3		Saint Elizabeth South Eastern	0.69%
4		Trelawny Northern	1.24%	4		Saint Thomas Western	1.08%
5		Saint Catherine South Eastern	1.49%	5		Saint Ann South Western	1.34%
6		Westmoreland Central	2.70%	6		Hanover Eastern	1.44%
7		Saint Catherine North Western	3.05%	7		Saint Andrew East Rural	1.83%
8		Manchester Central	3.17%	8		Saint Catherine East Central	1.97%
9		Clarendon Northern	3.21%	9		Clarendon North Central	2.42%
10		Clarendon North Western	3.57%	10		Clarendon South Eastern	2.44%
11		Manchester Southern	3.77%	11		Saint Elizabeth North Western	4.34%
12		Westmoreland Western	4.49%	12		Saint James West Central	4.67%
13		Saint Catherine North Central	4.59%	13		Saint Andrew West Rural	5.69%
14		Saint Elizabeth North Eastern	4.79%	14		Manchester North Eastern	5.86%
15		Hanover Western	4.82%	15		Saint Elizabeth South Western	6.81%
16		Saint Thomas Eastern	5.41%	16		Saint James Central	6.85%
17		Kingston Central	5.78%	17		Saint Andrew West Central	7.05%
18		Portland Eastern[a 2]	6.62%	18		Portland Western	7.14%
19		Clarendon South Western	6.67%	19		Saint Catherine South Western	7.43%
20		Manchester North Western	6.75%	20		Saint Ann North Eastern	7.83%
21		Saint Mary Central	7.10%	21		Saint James East Central	8.06%
22		Saint Catherine Southern	7.12%	22		Saint Andrew North Western	8.47%
23		Saint Andrew East Central	7.44%	23		Saint Mary Western	9.80%
24		Saint Catherine Eastern	7.61%	24		Trelawny Southern	10.70%
25		Saint Andrew South Eastern	9.78%	25		Saint James North Western	11.85%
26		Saint Andrew Western	10.43%	26		Saint Andrew North Eastern	12.05%
27		Westmoreland Eastern	10.52%	27		Saint Andrew North Central	12.39%
28		Saint Ann South Eastern	10.98%	28		Saint Catherine West Central	13.43%
29		Kingston East and Port Royal	25.20%	29		Clarendon Central	15.33%
30		Saint Andrew Southern	36.37%	30		Saint Catherine South Central	20.47%
31		Saint Andrew South Western	40.79%	31		Saint Catherine Central	24.94%
Safe				32		Kingston Western	34.83%
				Safe
Source: General Election 2016 - Electoral Commission of Jamaica

1. Later gained by the JLP in a by-election on 30 October 2017, by a margin of 36.26% over the PNP.
2. Later gained by the JLP in a by-election on 4 April 2019, by a margin of 1.62% over the PNP.

Opinion polls

Don Anderson, CEO of Market Research Services Limited, Larren Peart, founder and CEO of Bluedot Data Intelligence Limited and Bill Johnson of Johnson's Survey Research Limited Inc have commissioned opinion polling for the general election regularly sampling the electorates' opinions.

Date	Pollster	Sample size	JLP	PNP	Other	Lead
3 September 2020	2020 general election	–	57.1	42.8	0.1	14.3
21–24 August 2020	RJR Gleaner Group/Don Anderson poll[42]	–	37	25	38	12
21–23 August 2020	Jamaica Observer/Bill Johnson poll[43]	1,000	37	23	40	14
20 July–6 August 2020	Nationwide News Network/Bluedot poll[44]	–	52	34	14	18
23 July–3 August 2020	RJR Gleaner Group/Don Anderson poll[45]	–	36	20	44	16
9–12 July 2020	Jamaica Observer/Bill Johnson poll[46]	1,200	36	17	47	19
13–20 June 2020	Mello TV/Bill Johnson poll[47]	1,200	38	19	43	19
12–15 March 2020	Jamaica Observer/Bill Johnson poll[48]	1,200	33	19	48	14
8–18 February 2020	RJR Gleaner Group/Don Anderson poll[49]	1,038	30	22	48	8
2–19 December 2019	Nationwide News Network/Bluedot poll[50]	–	56	44	0	12
7 August 2019	Don Anderson poll[51]	–	35	30	35	5
2–4 August 2019	One PNP/Bill Johnson poll[52]	1,000	34	32	34	2
28 March 2019	RJR Gleaner Group/Don Anderson poll[53]	1,003	29	18	53	11
12 March 2018	RJR Gleaner Group/Don Anderson poll[54]	–	26	19	55	6
25 February 2016	2016 general election	–	50.1	49.7	0.2	0.4

CEAC Solutions polling

These polls are used internally by the PNP.^[55]

Date	Pollster	Sample size	JLP	PNP	Other	Lead
3 September 2020	2020 general election	–	57.1	42.8	0.1	14.3
28-29 August 2020	CEAC Solutions poll[56]	366	41	44	15	3
25 February 2016	2016 general election	–	50.1	49.7	0.2	0.4

Results

The ECJ reported that 97% of the polling stations had opened by 7:00 AM, and the remaining stations were open by 8:00 AM.^[57] The polls closed at 5:00 PM.^[58] Election observers included the EU delegation to Jamaica ^[59] and a domestic NGO, Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE).^[60]

Before 10:00 PM, preliminary results indicated that the JLP had won 44 seats; for the first time since 1967, the JLP was re-elected while contesting all seats.^[61] PNP leader Phillips did not give a concession speech, but called Holness privately to offer congratulations.^[62] Phillips resigned as PNP leader on 4 September 2020.^[63] The full preliminary count indicated a total of 49 seats for the JLP.^[64] A tie in Westmoreland Eastern was declared to be won by the JLP after a recount.^[41]

PM Holness was sworn in for a new term by Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen on 7 September 2020. The ceremony, which was held at King's House, was restricted to 32 people to comply with public health measures.^[65]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Jamaica Labour Party	408,376	57.07	+6.99	49	+17
	People's National Party	305,950	42.76	–6.95	14	–17
	Independents	1,185	0.17	+0.03	0	0
Total		715,511	100.00	–	63	–
Valid votes		715,511	98.78
Invalid/blank votes		8,806	1.22
Total votes		724,317	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,913,410	37.85
Source: Electoral Commission of Jamaica

See also

• 14th Parliament of Jamaica