The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major

political parties in Jamaica Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, the other being the

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local go ...

(PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party (as is the case for "Labour" parties in several other

Commonwealth realms A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonweal ...

such as Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

), the JLP is actually a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

party. It is the current governing party, having won 49 of the 63 parliamentary seats in the lower house of parliament (House of Representatives) in the 2020 general elections. The JLP uses a bell, the

victory sign The ''V sign'' is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When displ ...

, and the colour

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

as electoral symbols. The JLP is a member of the

Caribbean Democrat Union The Caribbean Democrat Union is an alliance of moderate, centre-right and conservative political parties and individuals the Caribbean. It is affiliated to the global International Democrat Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an ...

The JLP in colonial Jamaica

The party was founded on 8 July 1943 by

Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Early life and education He was ...

as the political wing of the

Bustamante Industrial Trade Union The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU, also referred to as the Busta Union) is a trade union center in Jamaica established by Sir Alexander Bustamante. The BITU was formed in 1938 and built up a membership of 54,000 within 6 years. It is a ...

. Bustamante had previously been a member of the PNP. It won the 1944 general elections with 22 of the 32 seats. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', pp432-435 It went on to win the 1949 elections with a reduced majority. The PNP received more votes (203,048) than the JLP (199,538), but the JLP secured more seats; 17 to the PNP's 13. Two seats were won by independents. The voter turnout was 65.2%. The JLP lost power to the PNP in the 1955 elections. The PNP won for the first time, securing 18 out of 32 seats. The JLP ended up with 14 seats, and there were no independents. The voter turnout with 65.1%. As a result,

Norman Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate ...

became the new chief minister. The JLP remained in opposition following the 1959 elections, when the number of seats was increased to 45. The PNP secured a wider margin of victory, taking 29 seats to the JLP's 16. Manley was appointed

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

's first premier on 14 August 1959. In the 1961 Federation membership referendum Jamaica voted 54% to leave the West Indies Federation. After losing the referendum, Manley took Jamaica to the polls in April 1962, to secure a mandate for the island's independence. On 10 April 1962, of the 45 seats up for contention in the 1962 Jamaican general election, the JLP won 26 seats and the PNP 19. The voter turnout was 72.9%. This resulted in the

independence of Jamaica The Colony of Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. In Jamaica, this date is celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday. The island became an imperial colony in 1509 when Spain conquered the Indigenous A ...

on 6 August 1962, and several other British colonies in the West Indies followed suit in the next decade. Bustamante had replaced Manley as premier between April and August, and on independence, he became Jamaica's first prime minister.

The JLP in independent Jamaica

Bustamante suffered a stroke in 1964 and largely withdrew from politics. However, he did not relinquish the title of party leader for another decade.

Donald Sangster Sir Donald Burns Sangster ON GCVO (26 October 1911 – 11 April 1967) was a Jamaican solicitor and politician, and the second Prime Minister of Jamaica. Early life Donald Burns Sangster was born in Black River in the parish of St. Elizab ...

took over as acting prime minister after Bustamante's stroke. He was named First Deputy Leader in 1967, and led the party to victory in the 21 February

1967 Jamaican general election General elections were held in Jamaica on 21 February 1967.Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p430 The result was a victory for the Jamaica Labour Party, which won 33 of the 53 seats. Voter turnout was ...

. The JLP won 33 out of 53 seats, with the PNP taking 20 seats.Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook'', Volume I, p. 430. Sangster suffered a brain hemorrhage and died about six weeks after the elections, while he was preparing for his budget presentation.

Hugh Shearer Hugh Lawson Shearer (18 May 1923 – 15 July 2004) was a Jamaican trade unionist and politician, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1967 to 1972. Biography Early life Born in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, near the sugar an ...

succeeded Sangster as First Deputy Leader and Prime Minister, defeating David Clement (DC) Tavares by two votes in a run-off by of the JLP parliamentarians. Tavares had come out on top in the first ballot, with Shearer and Robert Lightbourne being the other candidates. Under Shearer, the JLP lost power in independent Jamaica for the first time to the

and

Michael Manley Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

. The PNP won 37 seats to the JLP's 16. Shearer served as Opposition Leader until 1974. Bustamante finally gave up the post of party leader in 1974, and

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.1976 elections, the PNP winning 47 seats to the JLP's 13. The turnout was a very high 85 percent. Seaga became Prime Minister after victory in 1980 when the party won by a landslide, capturing 51 of the then 60 parliamentary seats. In 1983 with the JLP achieving a spike in popularity, in part because of Seaga's support of the US-led military invasion of Grenada, Seaga called early elections and won all sixty seats, the majority by acclamation, mainly because the opposition PNP boycotted those elections. The JLP suffered defeat in the 1989 elections. The PNP won 45 seats to the JLP's 15. The JLP went on to lose elections in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and 2002, all under the continued leadership of Seaga. In 1993, the PNP, led by

P.J. Patterson Percival Noel James Patterson, popularly known as P.J. Patterson (born 10 April 1935), is a Jamaican former politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006. He served in office for 14 years, making him the longe ...

, won 52 seats to the JLP's eight seats, while in 1997 the PNP won 50 of the 60 seats available. In the 2002 Jamaican general election, the PNP retained power with a reduced seat majority of 34 seats to 26. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p430 Patterson stepped down on 26 February 2006, and was replaced by

Portia Simpson-Miller Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller (born 12 December 1945) is a Jamaican politician. She served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from 5 January 2012 to 3 March 2016. She was the leader of the People's Nationa ...

, Jamaica's first female Prime Minister. In 2005

Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he led from 2005 to h ...

succeeded Seaga as leader of the party, and led it to victory in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

by a narrow margin of 32 seats to 28, with a turnout of 61.46%. This election ended 18 years of PNP rule, and

became the new prime minister. Golding resigned as head of the party and Prime Minister in October 2011 and was succeeded by

Andrew Holness Andrew Michael Holness, (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has been the Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, following the 2016 Jamaican general election. Holness previously served as prime minister from October 2011 to ...

. Soon after becoming leader, Holness called an election over a year before it was constitutionally due, and the party lost by a 2:1 margin to the PNP. Portia Simpson-Miller and the PNP returned to power. The number of seats had been increased to 63, and the PNP swept to power with a landslide 42 seats to the JLP's 21. The voter turnout was 53.17%. Holness continued to lead the party as Opposition Leader. The party held a leadership election on 10 November 2013 where Holness was challenged by his deputy, Shadow Minister for Finance

Audley Shaw Audley Shaw (born 13 June 1952) is a Jamaican politician. He currently serves as Minister of Transport & Mining since January 2022. Prior to this appointment he served as the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce from September 2020 - J ...

. Holness defeated Shaw by a margin of 2,704 votes to Shaw's 2,012. Holness went on to lead the JLP to a narrow, one-seat parliamentary majority (32–31) in the 2016 general election, reducing the PNP to the opposition benches after one term. The voter turnout dipped below 50% for the first time, registering just 48.37%. In the 2020 general election, Andrew Holness made history for the JLP by accomplishing a second consecutive win for the Jamaica Labour Party, winning 49 seats to 14 won by the PNP, led this time by

Peter Phillips (politician) Peter Phillips (born 28 December 1949) is a Jamaican politician who is currently the MP for Saint Andrew East Central. Phillips is the former president of the People's National Party and former leader of the Opposition in Jamaica. He served ...

. The last time a consecutive win occurred for the JLP was in 1980. However, the turnout at this election was just 37%, probably affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This is what Jamaicans classified as a "landslide victory".

Political positions

The JLP is a conservative party. It believes in a market-driven economy and individual personal responsibility. In May 2008, in an interview with

Stephen Sackur Stephen John Sackur (born 9 January 1964) is an English journalist who presents ''HARDtalk'', a current affairs interview programme on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel. He was also the main Friday presenter of '' GMT'' on BBC World News. ...

of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

PM and Party Leader declared that any

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

formed by him would exclude any MP known to be gay. In previous statements, Golding stated that he and his party strongly opposed public displays of homosexuality in Jamaica and that he felt that they should continue to be illegal in keeping with Jamaican societal norms. He underlined the illegality of homosexual acts by citing Christian values and the integrity of the family.Is Jamaica homophobic
retrieved 19 May

Electoral performance

House of Representatives

West Indies

List of party leaders

Sir Alexander Bustamante Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (born William Alexander Clarke; 24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica. Early life and education He was ...

(1943–1974) * Sir Donald Sangster (''acting'': 1965–1967) *

(''acting'': 1967–1974) *

Edward Seaga Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he led from 2005 to h ...

(2005–2011) *

(2011–present) :1. Donald Sangster and Hugh Shearer were not actually leaders of the JLP but were ''de facto'' leaders during Bustamante's illness/withdrawal from active political life.

References

External links

Official JLP website
{{Authority control African and Black nationalism in North America African and Black nationalist parties Conservative parties in Jamaica Labour parties Political parties established in 1943 Political parties in Jamaica Republican parties Republicanism in Jamaica