The ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has been confirmed the winner of Monday’s local government elections.
The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) said it completed its count of all ballots on Thursday.
“With all ballots counted, the results indicate that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidates have won the majority of seats in seven parishes, while the People’s National Party (PNP) has won five. Kingston and St. Andrew ended in a tie with the PNP and the JLP winning 20 seats each. The PNP won the majority of the divisions and the position of Mayor of the Municipality of Portmore,” EOJ said in a statement.
JLP won in St. Thomas, Portland, St. Ann, Trelawny, St. James, Clarendon, and St. Elizabeth. The PNP won in Hanover, St. Mary, Westmoreland, Manchester, and St. Catherine.
Kingston and St. Andrew was tied. However, the PNP’s Andrew Swaby will become the new Mayor of Kingston, replacing JLP’s Delroy Williams. The EOJ previously explained that the PNP got the post of Mayor because they won in the Kintyre Division, which was the key area that would decide the winner in the popular vote.
Voter turnout in the local government elections was 29.6%.
A wake-up call for Holness
Although claiming victory on Monday night, based on preliminary results, Prime Minister Andrew Holness acknowledged that the election results were a wake-up call for himself and his party.
Holness said the election results indicated that Jamaicans have retained confidence in the government. However, “there are issues that came up during the campaign which the government has been seized of and recognizes, and the people in their wisdom have found a way to communicate these issues through the ballot to the government”.
He listed those issues as the need for good roads, water supply, garbage collection, and infrastructure development which, he said, “the government cannot ignore”.
“These are not issues that originated with the JLP. These have been long-standing issues that the people of Jamaica have been suffering. What we note is that people’s expectations have risen,” Holness said.
“The government is sensitive to this and recognizes that this has an impact on the whole, but it is clearly not to the point where the public feels that the Jamaica Labour Party has not done anything about it,” he said, adding, that the administration regards the election result as “an expression of frustration” which the government interprets as a need to “step up the pace” at which it delivers benefits.
 has been confirmed the winner of Monday's local government election, after winning in seven parishes.){kind=link}