Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, 53, has won a rare third term in office after his Labour Party sailed to victory in Wednesday’s election.
The Caribbean nation’s electoral commission said the Labour Party had won 34 seats, beating the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), which secured 29 seats, according to preliminary figures.
The candidate for the PNP, Mark Golding, has conceded defeat.
Holness campaigned on a promise to lower the income tax rate from 25% to 15%, while Golding had said he would raise the income tax threshold.
The incumbent was also credited by many voters for bringing down the number of homicides in the country after the murder rate fell to its lowest in 25 years in the first quarter of 2025, according to official figures.
While there was some criticism of the measures used to bring about the drop in crime – such as states of emergency being declared in some regions – the increased sense of safety seems to have helped propel Holness to another term.
But the economy was at the centre of the election campaign with the Labour Party pointing to the low unemployment rate of 3.3% as one of its achievements in office.
The main opposition party, the PNP, accused the government of squandering money, citing the high cost of second-hand school buses it had purchased.
It also raised questions about the Holness’s integrity, citing a report which had questioned his income and assets declaration.
Holness denied any wrongdoing and accused the PNP of using the report as a “distraction” because, he said, the government’s record was such that there was little the opposition could criticise.
While turnout was low at 39.5%, an observer mission sent by the Organization of American States (OAS) praised Jamaican voters for being “calm and orderly with a sense of civic maturity and pride”.
Holness thanked voters for “this historic third term” and for their “trust, your faith and your belief in the vision of a stronger, safer, more prosperous Jamaica”.
