Jamaica’s much-anticipated 2025 general election is officially in the books, and the ruling Jamaica Labour Party came out on top. But something happened this election that we need to talk about.

So the JLP secured its third consecutive term in office, defeating the Mark Golding-led People’s National Party. The JLP claimed 35 out of 63 seats.  The PNP secured the remaining 28. 

But did you notice that two other minor parties that contested the election were influential factors in some of the constituencies?

The Jamaica Progressive Party, JPP, fielded 47 candidates, and the United Independents’ Congress of Jamaica had 17.

Now while neither party got enough votes to win a constituency, the votes they did secure influenced the outcome in several seats.

Like in St Mary South Eastern where the PNP’s candidate won by 11 votes. The JPP candidate had 26 votes. Now that still would not have given the two other candidates a significant lead, but it wouldn’t have been as close.

Then there’s the Kingston Central seat, which was initially declared for the PNP during the preliminary count on election night but was flipped to the JLP on the final count.

The difference there on election night was 12 votes. The UIC candidate had 23 votes. Again, not a lot of votes compared to the JLP and PNP candidates, but those 23 votes could have given a more definitive win to one of the other candidates. 

The point is, things are shifting. In the two examples I used, the third-party candidates had 20-something votes, but there are constituencies where the JPP or UIC candidates got 60 votes, 100 votes and that’s enough to affect the outcome, especially in a situation where voter turnout was so low, just 39.5%.

Now Jamaica has been a two party Government for decades but there was a time… long, long, long ago when independent candidates held parliamentary seats. 

That hasn’t happened in present memory for most people, but it’s not impossible. 

Jamaica’s election system, first past the post, means a party would need to have at least 32 seats to form government. The JPP had 47 candidates, so they could have formed a government. 

The UIC’s 17 candidates could not have formed a government but would have a significant voice as the Opposition. Remember in the 2020 general election, the PNP only won 14 seats.

Of course, there’s a lot more to it. PNP and JLP are ingrained into Jamaican culture at this point. It would take significant work to break that hold. But clearly the work has begun and some voters are not scared of the idea.

And that’s the bottom line.