Vaz wins landslide victory

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) had its 32 - 28 seat majority in parliament restored following yesterday’s landslide victory in the West Portland by-election.



The party’s candidate Daryl Vaz whipped the PNP’s Kenneth Rowe by gaining a 2,289 margin of victory.



From early in the counting process, the JLP ‘s Daryl Vaz established a clear lead eventually thrashing the PNP’s Rowe in what was a keenly contested poll.



By the end of the count Vaz polled 7,915 votes to Rowe’s 5,626, becoming the first candidate to score more than 7,000 votes in West Portland.



Astor Black, of the New Jamaica Alliance, polled 27 votes.



Vaz’s performance was far better than his showing in the 2007 general election, when he polled 6, 977 votes to defeat the PNP’s Abe Dabdoub, who received 6,033 from 74 percent of the constituency’s electors.



Vaz said the margin of victory was in keeping with his predictions.



The PNP’s Rowe said he intends to lick his wounds and rebound following yesterday’s loss.



It was the second time that Rowe was contesting the West Portland seat in a national poll.



In 2002, he contested the seat for the JLP but lost to Errol Ennis\'s by 281 votes.



Rowe switched allegiance to the PNP after Vaz whipped him to win the chairmanship of the constituency in 2005.



In a statement last night, the PNP said it would be reviewing the results and their implications in the immediate-term.



The party also congratulated Vaz on his victory in what it said was a well contested poll.



Electoral officials have reported that just over 70 percent or 13,589 of the over 18,000 eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots.