Caribbean & Central America - March 2006 (ISSN 1741-4458)

Portia Simpson-Miller won the leadership election of the ruling People's National Party (PNP) on 25 February, beating her closest rival by just over 6% of the vote. In April she will become Jamaica's seventh prime minister, and the first female to hold the post, when the present incumbent PJ Patterson retires before the start of the next legislative year on 1 April.

The contest

Simpson-Miller, the local government and sports minister, won 1,775 votes (46.6%) in the election. Behind her was Dr Peter Phillips, the national security minister, with 1,538 votes (40.4%). Two other contenders, Finance Minister Omar Davies and the former housing and water minister, Karl Blythe, mustered 7.4% and 5.4% respectively.

In a bitter leadership campaign, the more populist choice of Simpson-Miller prevailed over Phillips, who commands the most support among MPs and with whom there is a suspicion that Simpson-Miller is a bit of an intellectual lightweight who will come off worse in exchanges with the leader of the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Bruce Golding.

Simpson-Miller tried to be magnanimous in victory calling for "unity and if there are wounds to be healed, it's time for healing". Her opponents joined her call of unity, though Phillips was most hesitant in his congratulations.

Simpson-Miller will face the first test of her capabilities in little over a month when the 2006/2007 budget debate is held. General elections are due in early 2007. Golding, however, has laid himself open to charges of weakness and inconsistency following his departure from, and subsequent return to, the JLP.

Profile of the new leader

Nicknamed "Sista P", Simpson-Miller, now 60, began her political career in the PNP as a Kingston councillor in 1974. Within four years she had become vice-president of the party and in 1983 became its spokeswoman on women's affairs, pensions, social security and consumer affairs.

She was elected MP for South West St Andrew in 1989 and was promptly appointed to her first ministerial post; labour, welfare & sports, that same year. She remains highly popular in her constituency and, even prior to the leadership contest, was a well-known public figure.

In 1992, when prime minister Michael Manley resigned, she made her first bid for the presidency of the PNP, but was soundly defeated by PJ Patterson.

She has remained a minister throughout the successive PNP administrations, her portfolio changing with the times: in 1993 she shed sports; in 1995 welfare gave way to social security; in 2000 she shed labour and social security to take on tourism, and in 2002 she dropped tourism and took on local government.

Simpson-Miller's administrative record is far from flawless; corruption and fraud allegations surfacing from the national solid waste management authority earlier this year, a body falling under her control, brought accusations of ministerial incompetence.