Dalley’s camp fired up
Published:Thursday | August 20, 2020 | 12:07 AMRomario Scott/Gleaner Writer
Surrogates of Horace Dalley, the veteran People’s National Party (PNP) standard-bearer in Clarendon Northern, are brimming with confidence ahead of the September 3 general election.
Dalley has been the member of parliament for the Clarendon Northern for six of seven terms since 1989, losing only in 2007, when the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Laurie Broderick snatched the seat.
His constituency office was abuzz when The Gleaner visited recently as workers combed through the voters’ list and updated a directory of numbers.
“We have we indoor and we have outdoor worker dem. The runner dem ready, and the driver dem ready. Call it seh everybody ready,” said Sher, one of the workers inside the Kellits-based office.
She added that since the date of the general election was announced earlier this month, their activities have intensified.
“We looking at where we need to work on. You might have some cussing here and there, but what we really looking on is the PD (polling division) to see if we can get out some more people. Depending on how things go, we might can take Kellits, but Crofts Hill, for sure,” the long-time PNP worker said.
Even as councillor for the Crofts Hill division, Anthony O’Connor, touted the area as the republic for the PNP, other workers are concerned about what they see as the build-up of movement in Bunkers Hill.
They are unperturbed, however, by suggestions that Dalley could lose to the JLP’s Dwight Sibblies come September 3.
“Every election, Dalley a go lose! Every election we hear that Dalley a go lose, so that don’t really trouble we,” O’Connor said.
The councillor said that Comrades were excited even though there were serious concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The only time we lose Northern Clarendon, the JLP received over 700 votes in the Kellits division. They were ahead of us. I don’t see that happening now,” the councillor charged, predicting that the PNP should be able to “break even” in the Kellits division.
Dalley secured his largest margin of victory (2,228 votes) in 1997, but since then, he began losing ground, culminating with his ouster in 2007.
In 2011, Dalley returned to the House with a 1,836-vote margin, but this was slashed to 732 in 2016.