Bell: I have no plans to succeed Hanna

Ian Bell, People’s National Party (PNP) councillor for the Beecher Town Division in St Ann South Eastern, says the pending departure of Member of Parliament Lisa Hanna from representational politics will not negatively affect his chances of retaining the division in the upcoming local government polls.

The councillor said he was confident that when the next municipal elections are held, his work in the Beecher Town Division and the “people’s love” for him would allow him to clinch victory for the PNP.

He stressed that Hanna’s announcement of her intention to call time on her stint in the constituency at the end of her current term will not dampen his support in the division.

“The Beecher Town Division did not vote for Ms Hanna because they love her, they voted for her because I asked them to go out and vote,” Bell told The Gleaner yesterday.

He also made it clear that he has no ambitions at this time to succeed Hanna, who has been the MP for the constituency since 2007.

It was an open secret that Hanna and Bell did not enjoy a cordial relationship. In June 2021, Bell resigned from the constituency executive.

At the time, he cited long-standing issues with Hanna’s constituency office. When he resigned from the constituency executive, Bell said he felt disrespected by the MP and her staff.

“I do not believe that I have anything at all personally to do [with Hanna’s planned departure]. The results of the elections of 2020 would have shown that the writing was on the wall and that the people were not in great favour of her representation,” Bell told The Gleaner yesterday.

In the September 3, 2020, general election, voters in the Beecher Town electoral division favoured the PNP, which received 1,162 votes to the Jamaica Labour Party’s 1,146.

Hanna won St Ann South Eastern in 2020 by a 31-vote margin following a magisterial recount.

editorial@gleanerjm.com