Prime Minister, The Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, the first female to hold this position in Jamaica, created history on Saturday, February 25, by becoming the first female President-elect of the 68 year-old People’s National Party (PNP). It was not the first time she created a first in Jamaica’s political history. Thirty-two years after she first entered representational politics, she has achieved the most coveted prize in the local political arena--that of becoming Prime Minist
Known for her passion for the poor and dispossessed, Mrs. Simpson Miller has, since 1989, consistently topped the opinion polls as the best performing Minister of Government and the most popular politician. Since the announcement by Prime Minister P. J. Patterson after the 2002 elections that he would be retiring before the next General Elections, opinion polls have shown that the Jamaican people have favoured her as the best person to succeed Mr. Patterson.
The November 2005 Gleaner/Don Anderson Poll showed that 58% of the Jamaican people felt she was the most suitable person to succeed Mr. Patterson, with a privately commissioned poll showing that figure jumping to approximately 62% in December 2005. She has been a Vice-President of the PNP since 1978 and President of the PNP Women’s Movement since 1983.
In 1974 when she won the tough inner-city constituency of Trench Town West as a Councilor in the Kingston & St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) for the PNP, it was the first time that the party had won that seat. When she went on in 1976 to win the Constituency of South West St. Andrew in the Parliamentary elections, she had created another first for the party. And, when the Party suffered a massive defeat in the 1980 elections, she emerged as one of only nine PNP representatives who won their seats.
In 1977 she was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government under the Michael Manley Administration, a post she held until the General Elections of 1980. Serving in the Parliamentary Opposition, she was PNP Spokesperson on Women’s Affairs, Pension, Social Security and Consumer Affairs between 1983 and 1989. Returning to Government in 1989, Mrs. Simpson Miller was appointed Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sport.
There, her prodigious skills in human relations and networking were evident and stood the country in good stead, as the industrial relations climate improved considerably. Those disputes which were brought to the Ministry were skillfully and expeditiously handled by her. As Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sport, Mrs. Simpson Miller took particular interest in the welfare of the country’s overseas farm workers and saw to the improvement of their living standards.
She brought well-needed reforms to the Overseas Farm Workers Programme and established the Overseas Recruitment Centre for Farm Workers. Significantly, she also established a Chair in Labour Relations at the University of the West Indies. Under her watch, too, a number of day-care facilities were instituted islandwide. |
