Golding down but not out, says Henry-Wilson

Maxine Henry-Wilson, chairman of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Unity Committee, is not surprised by a Bill Johnson-Mello TV poll finding that the party’s president, Opposition Leader Mark Golding, has a favourable rating of 17 per cent, significantly lower than the 46 per cent held by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the leader of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.

Additionally, the poll found that 33 per cent of Jamaicans saw Golding in an unfavourable light, while 50 per cent were unsure. Comparatively, 28 per cent find Holness unfavourable, with 26 per cent unsure.

“It’s not a point for comfort, but I don’t think it comes as a shock,” Henry-Wilson told The Gleaner.

She attributed the finding to the fact that Holness has been at the helm of his party for more than a decade, having took the reins from Bruce Golding in 2011, while Golding succeeded Dr Peter Phillips just over a year ago.

As a result, said Henry-Wilson, Holness has received far more exposure and recognition, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many traditional political activities.

“It is extremely hard to build a political platform in the middle of COVID because for you to build a political platform, you have to have a lot of exposure,” she said, explaining that Jamaicans were more receptive of political leaders they can see and interact with physically as opposed to virtually.

A social media presence cannot substitute for that, she added, as many Jamaicans do not consider social media as a tool to express their problems or feelings to their leaders.

“You can’t harmonise remotely,” Henry-Wilson, a former PNP general secretary, said.

Colin Campbell, another former PNP general secretary, also believed that the pandemic has presented unfamiliar challenges within the political arena, but noted that this was not an excuse to slack off on building a stronger relationship with the electorate.

“People need to know him (Golding) some more. I know that the pandemic has prevented him from going around as much as he would like, [but] now that we are at a stage of the pandemic which is looking better, he just needs to get out there,” Campbell asserted, noting that by doing frequent tours, Golding can still interact with a large number of people even while observing with COVID-19 gathering restrictions.

Listening tour

Although noting that Golding had embarked on what was dubbed a listening tour late last year, Campbell said that was not enough because of the short period for which it lasted.

“You have to go out and people have to know you ... . In Jamaica, you have about 7,000 polling divisions. Going out to some parish capitals or major towns alone, you nuh reach nowhere yet; you just start,” he told The Gleaner.

Given that Jamaicans’ political knowledge of Golding only dates back to 2012 – when he was named justice minister in the Portia Simpson Miller administration – and, as Campbell believes, people tend to take 20 to 25 years to fully know a politician, the former general secretary wants to see Golding doing more.

Henry-Wilson voiced concerns that the poll results would further the issue of unsettled leadership in the party, but believes the PNP’s leadership is sustainable for the long term.

She told The Gleaner that while occasional internal disagreements are unavoidable, the party is in a better position than it was six months ago.

“So we had some of the detractors who were not as vocal and then many of them kind of became a part of the regular participation of what was taking place,” she said, explaining that efforts at uniting the 83-year-old political movement after a fractious leadership election in 2020 are bearing fruit.

Henry-Wilson believes that Golding can turn the tide by targeting the 50 per cent of electors who are unsure whether he is an effective leader. She is advising him to see them as an opportunity to identify the people’s direct concerns or issues and then design a campaign around them.

Campbell, on the other hand, stated that because Golding is a relatively new leader, he does not expect members of the party who need to settle down and get the machinery moving to do so right away.

The poll, which included 1,176 respondents, was conducted between January 14 and 16 in 84 communities across the island with a plus or minus 3 per cent margin of error.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com