Robert Pickersgill (left), chairman of the People's National Party, exchanges pleasantries with J.C. Hutchinson, Jamaica Labour Party member of parliament for St Elizabeth North West, during yesterday's by-election for the Cornwall Mountain division in the Westmoreland Parish Council. - photo by Dalton Laing

Western Bureau:

Veteran politician Bernard Vanriel yesterday gave the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) its first electoral victory since 2007 when he defeated the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Keith Barnes in a by-election for the Cornwall Mountain division of the Westmoreland Parish Council.

"I knew I would have won. It was just a matter of getting it over," said an elated Vanriel. "I promised the party leader I would deliver this seat and I did just that."

At the end of the election which had slightly more than a 50 per cent turnout in the 32 polling divisions, Vanriel tallied 2,104 votes to Barnes' 1,922. Some 6,976 persons were eligible to cast their vote.

The by-election was called to fill the vacancy that was created in the Westmoreland Parish Council when Michael Smith, who won the Cornwall Mountain division for the PNP in the 2007 local government election died two months ago after a brief illness.

The day started with supporters of the two parties out in their numbers, clad in traditional JLP green and the PNP's orange. However, the general mood was friendly, rather than competitive, as the limited bantering that was heard was basically in good taste and devoid of rancour.

While merely a divisional election, the contest was given national significance by pundits, some of whom intimated that a defeat for Vanriel, in what is considered a traditionally strong PNP division, could have signalled an end to the reign of PNP President Portia Simpson Miller.

JLP invested time

In fact, buoyed by their success in the two recent dual-citizenship by-elections in West Portland and North East St Catherine, the JLP paid more than a passing interest in the division, investing much time and energy in Barnes' campaign.

In assessing what unfolded during the course of the day, Director of Elections Orrette Fisher said that except for a brief five-minute period in which a printer broke down, the electoral machinery stood the test.

"All stations opened on time and the equipment stood up," said Fisher. "It was a good day and we are pretty happy with the way things went."

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com