George Wright back in the JLP

"I'm back in the team," Westmoreland Central Member of Parliament George Wright declared Sunday at a meeting of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) youth group.

Wright resigned from the JLP in 2021 amid domestic abuse allegations.

"I was out there in the pavilion, I'm back in the team," he said to loud cheers.

Minutes after the comments, the party issued a statement confirming his return to the JLP, stating his membership was reinstated after considering "mitigating actions" the MP took.

“The Membership Committee reviewed his application and considered the circumstances which lead to his independent status, along with the mitigating actions he has since taken to be readmitted to the Jamaica Labour Party. The Membership Committee has recommended that Mr Wright be readmitted and this was accepted by the Standing Committee,” said the statement from the JLP.

Wright was elected MP for Westmoreland Central in September 2020 on a JLP ticket.

He resigned from the party in June 2021 amid public pressure to step down as a lawmaker after a video emerged in April that year showing a man beating a woman with a stool.

Though Wright never confirmed or denied that he was the person in the video, he and his then-partner filed separate police reports about a physical altercation that took place on April 6, 2021.

The case was closed after the two did not pursue the complaints.

Wright married the woman after a year of counselling.

Wright has been sitting as an independent member of the House of Representatives, although he said he supports the policies of the JLP administration.

Last September, Wright said he had “grown past” the allegation.

“The people see me as their hard-working elected official and they treat me as such,” he said then.

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