Phyllis Mitchell won't go to Gordon House

Phyllis Mitchell may well say goodbye to politics now. The 70-year-old's chance of making a comeback to representational politics was clipped at the polls yesterday, as her opponent Leslie Campbell emerged the winner of the St Catherine North East constituency.

Campbell, an attorney-at-law, took home the seat for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) winning by 5,887votes to Mitchell's 5,766.

The 70-year-old former parliamentarian was determined to recapture the seat for the People's National Party (PNP), as since 1944, the JLP has registered 10 wins in its column, with the PNP able to eke out only four victories.

There has been a call in recent times to send political veterans, some of whom have long passed the legal retirement age of between 60 and 65, into retirement. Mitchell was, however, hoping to turn the tables on her younger rivals.

Mitchell, who was born April 25, 1945, won the seat in 1993 before losing in a court challenge after the 1997 polls.

It was expected that she would have joined a throng of golden-age members of parliament, including outgoing Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who turned 70 in December.

Other golden-agers, however, will be making their way back to Gordon House, including the eldest in the slate of candidates, the JLP's Mike Henry, who turned 80 in June of last year.