2018 Saint Andrew North Western by-election

A by-election to the House of Representatives was held for the Saint Andrew North Western constituency on March 5, 2018. The seat was declared vacant after the resignation of Derrick Smith as member of Parliament effective January 15, 2018.[1] The election was won by Nigel Clarke of the Jamaica Labour Party.

Background

The incumbent Derrick Smith was first elected to Parliament from the Saint Andrew North Western constituency during the 1989 general election, representing the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). He lost the seat in the next 1993 general election to Jepthah Ford of the People's National Party (PNP). However, Smith regained the seat in the subsequent 1997 general election, holding it until his retirement from active politics on January 15, 2019.[2] On February 4, 2018, Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the seat vacant and announced the date of the by-election as March 5, 2018 with Nomination day set for February 12, 2018.[3] The by-election was contested by Nigel Clarke of the JLP and Keisha Hayle of the PNP. Clarke won 60.7% of the vote, compared with the 38.3% garnered by Hayle, with 1% of ballots rejected. Only 24.3% of eligible voters cast their vote, down from 40.9% in the 2016 election.[4][5]

Dates

Date	Event
January 15, 2018	Derrick Smith resigns as member of Parliament [1]
February 4, 2018	Writ of Election issued by Governor-General and announced by Prime Minister[3]
February 12, 2018	Nomination day
March 5, 2018	Polling day

Result

2018 Saint Andrew North Western by-election [6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	JLP	Nigel Clarke	4,457	60.7
	PNP	Keisha Hayle	2,809	38.3
Rejected ballots			71	1.0
Turnout			7,337	24.3
Registered electors			30,216
	JLP hold

Voting results Jamaica Labour Party   60.75% People's National Party   38.29% Rejected ballots   0.97%

See also

• Politics of Jamaica
• Elections in Jamaica

References

1. "Hayle vs Clarke: March 5 by-election for North West St Andrew". Loop Jamaica. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
2. "Members of Parliament (Election Results from 1944 - 2016)" (PDF). National Library of Jamaica. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
3. "March 5 by-election for St Andrew North West". Jamaica Gleaner. 4 February 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
4. "Ruling JLP wins St Andrews North West by-election". The Economist. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
5. "General Election 2016". Electoral Commission of Jamaica. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
6. "St. Andrew North Western By-election 2018". Electoral Commission of Jamaica. Retrieved 5 September 2020.