'Emotional moment' as former MP Derrick Smith votes for his son

Derrick Smith, the former member of Parliament (MP) for St Andrew North Western, described it as an "emotional moment" as he cast his vote this morning for his youngest son, Duane, who is the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for the by-election now under way in the constituency.

The senior Smith held the seat for almost three decades, sharing that Duane was born the year he entered representational politics.

"It's sort of a legacy, although we generally had hoped that he would come after me, but that didn't happen," he said.

Duane's candidacy comes after Dr Nigel Clarke resigned as finance minister and MP for the constituency to take up the post of Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund in October.

He is up against independent candidate and former speaker of the house, Carl Marshall.

Confident of his son's victory, Derrick encouraged him to make people the focal point of his representation.

"My advice to Duane this morning is service, service, representation, never ever lose focus of why the people voted for you, whether it's 10 per cent or 90 per cent, the fact is that you was elected to present North West St Andrew, and you're expected to do that to the best of your ability, not just for the people in green shirt, but for the entire constituency," he said.

- Sashana Small

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