People's National Party

People's National Party
Leader	Portia Simpson-Miller
Chairperson	Robert Pickersgill
President	Portia Simpson-Miller
Spokesperson	Delano Franklin
House Speaker	Micheal Peart
Founded	1938
Headquarters	Kingston, Jamaica
Youth wing	People's National Party Youth Organization
Ideology	Social democracy, Democratic socialism, Social liberalism
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Socialist International (observer)[1]
House of Representatives	42 / 63
Local Government	151 / 227
Parish Councils	12 / 13
Website
PNPjamaica.com
Politics of Jamaica Political parties Elections

The People's National Party (PNP) is a social democratic and social liberal Jamaican political party, founded by Norman Manley in 1938. It is currently the Party with the biggest majority in the Parliament of Jamaica having 42 of the 63 seats.^[2]

It is the oldest political party in the Anglophone Caribbean and one of the main two political parties in Jamaica. Out of the two major parties, it is considered more to the left than its main rival, the Jamaica Labour Party. It has been the majority in the Jamaican Parliament between 1972 to 1980, from 1989 to September 2007 until the JLP won the general election^[3] and now, currently, as of the December 2011 general election. The party is a member of the Socialist International.

Political History

The PNP was defeated in the first universal elections held in Jamaica in 1944, winning only four of the 32 seats (one elected independent joined the party afterwards). It came to office again in 1955, and held office until just before independence in 1962 when the party was defeated by its principal rival, the Jamaica Labour Party. During this period of government it promoted actively reformist social democratic policies, including opening secondary education to many poorer Jamaicans through state funding of scholarships.

Ten years later, under the leadership of its founder's son, Michael Manley, it returned to office committed to democratic socialism and a foreign policy focused on strengthening relations with the Global South. In 1980, the Jamaica Labour Party led by Edward Seaga overwhelmingly defeated the PNP, after several years characterised by inflation and rising unemployment, and in a campaign noteworthy for an alarming level of violence. Manley led the party in a boycott of the snap election called in 1983, and the party was absent from parliament for more than five years.

In 1989 it was returned to office under Manley's leadership. Manley retired from politics in 1992, and was replaced as party leader by Percival Noel James Patterson. Patterson led the PNP to victory in 1993, 1997, and 2002, becoming the first political leader in Jamaican history to win three successive general elections. In the 2002 election, held on 16 October 2002, the party won 52.2% of the popular vote and 34 out of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives. Since its return to office in 1989 it has pursued policies intended to take advantage of globalisation, and has substantially moderated or even abandoned the socialist rhetoric of the 1970s. On 26 February 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller was elected as Patterson's successor, becoming the first female president of the PNP and became the Prime Minister of Jamaica. The PNP lost the August 2007 election to the JLP, and their leader Bruce Golding.

2011 Elections

In the 29 December 2011 general election, the PNP was returned to power with 42 of the 63 seats in Jamaica's parliament. At first, 41 seats had been counted in favour of the PNP. A recount with official results cost the former agriculture minister, Dr. Christopher Tufton, his seat, putting the PNP at 42 and the JLP at 21.

^[4] On January 5, 2012, PNP president, the Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller was sworn in as Prime Minister for the second time in her political career. On the following day, assigned 20 cabinet ministers to various ministries, as well as 8 state ministers.

As electoral symbols it uses a hatted head, arising sun, the fist, the trumpet and the colours orange, red, black and yellow.

List of party presidents

• Norman Manley (1938–1969)
• Michael Manley (1969–1992)
• P. J. Patterson (1992–2006)
• Portia Simpson-Miller (2006–present)

References

External links

• Official PNP website
• Jamaica New 2012 Cabinet Ministers
• Party manifesto (PDF file; free download of reader available here)
• History of the PNP and the JLP

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