Overconfidence cost PNP power – Spencer
Published:Monday | November 7, 2022 | 12:09 AM
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Kern Spencer, chairman of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Region Five, is exuding confidence about his party’s prospects in the local government elections, which are due by February 2023. Region Five covers the parishes of Manchester and St...
Kern Spencer, chairman of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Region Five, is exuding confidence about his party’s prospects in the local government elections, which are due by February 2023.
Region Five covers the parishes of Manchester and St Elizabeth.
Spencer acknowledged that a post-election review in the region had pointed to overconfidence as a key reason for fallout at the polling booths. In the 2020 general election, St Elizabeth was swept by the ruling Jamaica Labour Party while the PNP managed to win one of four Manchester seats.
“We have done a systematic and detailed analysis of the things that should have been done and weren’t. I can tell you in some instances, I believe that some of our candidates were too confident, and the PNP has been winning and winning for years, so in a number of divisions where canvassing ought to be done, they didn’t do any,” Spencer said in a Gleaner interview on Saturday.
He disclosed that a number of training sessions were conducted with both indoor and outdoor agents seeking to remedy their electoral mistakes.
Spencer believes the party will retain its majority in the Manchester municipal divisions and seize victory in St Elizabeth.
“Recent polls in St Elizabeth would have spoken to that. It’s very strong and it’s on the up in St Elizabeth,” the former junior energy minister said, emphasising that the declared improvement was the result of hard, on-the-ground work over the last 12 months.
Spencer boasted that the slate that will be fielded by the PNP are “brilliant, bright, young candidates – the best that the party has put forth since they have been running elections at the parochial level”.
Among the prospective candidates for the impending local government elections are Oneil Evans, councillor for the Christiana division; Keisha Phillips, Spur Tree division (she is also president of the women’s movement in Region Five); Peta-Gaye Campbell, councillor candidate, Porus division; David Knight, councillor candidate, Walderston division; and Mario Mitchell, councillor for the Bellefield division.