Mark Golding is the new president of the People’s National Party.
Golding, the Member of Parliament for South St Andrew, secured 1,740 votes to his opponent Lisa Hanna’s 1,444 votes in Saturday’s election.
Polls closed at 3:00p.m. with the results announced at the party’s 89 Old Hope Road headquarters, long before 5:00 p.m.
96 percent of the 3,300 delegates that were eligible to vote turned out on election day.
Goldingās victory means he will replace Dr Peter Phillips.
Phillips had announced that he would be stepping down as head of the 89-year-old political organization, following the party’s crushing defeat at the polls in the September 3 general election.
Despite Phillips’ signal that he would be stepping aside, noting that he would remain only until a new president was elected, some factions within the organization were not satisfied with him remaining in the position until such time.
While there was talk within the party about a general rebuilding and realignment to core values, a now infamous letter by the head of the party’s youth arm said to be leaked to the media catapulted the process of finding a new leader into high gear.
Youth arm leader Krystal Tomlinson in a letter stated that the organization must acknowledge the ultimatum issued by the Jamaican electorate, which she said amounted to “change or dieā.
The letter also stated that the party must move with immediacy to elect a new party president.
Less than two weeks later, South East St Ann Member of Parliament, Lisa Hanna, announced that she would be running for president of the party.
Later Golding threw his hat in the race, launching his campaign on October 18 with the iconic hashtag ” Go with Golding”
Following his success at the polls, Golding took to Twitter where he said, ” Ready to serve with Passion and Purpose”.
