By Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner WriterANTHONY HYLTON, the former member of Parliament for St. Thomas Western, may well be on his way to securing a new constituency to represent in the House of Representatives, but he
reportedly still has to get by several rivals for the Western St. Andrew seat, including his former cabinet colleague, Colin Campbell.
Mr. Campbell who, in 2002 lost his Eastern St. Andrew seat to the Jamaica Labour Party's St. Aubyn Bartlett, confirmed to The Gleaner that he was also considering a run to succeed O.T. Williams as MP for Western St. Andrew, a stronghold of the governing People's National Party (PNP).
Mr. Hylton nosed ahead of his rivals in his bid to become the PNP's candidate for Western St. Andrew, when, on December 5, he was elected chairman of the constituency. Those rivals are reported to include Councillor for the Waterhouse Division, Linton Walters, and Dr. Jephthah Ford, along with Mr. Campbell.
While vowing not to take the delegates' support for granted, Mr. Hylton told The Gleaner he was already consolidating his strength in the constituency.
At the moment, however, the former foreign trade minister cannot rely on the support of the incumbent MP, O.T. Williams, who has made no secret of his discomfort with the current situation. Mr. Williams chose not to attend the December 5 conference at which Mr. Hylton was elected constituency chairman, complaining that, among other things, he was not given the opportunity to bow out on his own timetable.
SIGHTS SET ON CONSTITUENCY
Mr. Hylton told The Gleaner that he intended to speak with Mr. Williams shortly, in a bid to allay any lingering concern and achieve consensus behind his candidacy.
In the meantime, Mr. Campbell has signalled that he is also likely to make a serious bid to represent the constituency in Parliament.
"I have been asked by delegates who live in Western St. Andrew to consider representing the constituency and I am looking at it," he confirmed.
In deciding whether to go to Western St. Andrew, Mr. Campbell, currently a deputy general secretary of the PNP, said that it was important to consider the strategic significance of its geographical location to the party.
SUBSTANTIAL LEVERAGE
In that regard, he highlighted the fact that it was in close proximity to the constituencies represented by three major candidates for the presidency of the PNP, bordering strong JLP seats: Portia Simpson Miller in South West St. Andrew, Dr. Peter Phillips in East Central St. Andrew, and Dr. Omar Davies in South St. Andrew.
"The next prime minister is likely to come from one of these bordering constituencies and therefore it is important that the political presence and strength in Western St. Andrew gives the prime minister the freedom to give attention and assistance islandwide, secure in the knowledge that everything is okay on the home front," he reasoned.
Furthermore, Mr. Campbell, pointed out, he worked in Western St. Andrew during the 1980s and was actually O.T. Williams' campaign manager for the 1989 election, factors which, he asserted gave him substantial leverage with the delegates.
Mr. Hylton, who, in 2002 lost his Western St. Thomas seat to the JLP's James Robertson, is dismissive of such claims, pointing out that he was the one chosen by the delegates as their new constituency chairman, in an election that was not contested by Mr. Campbell.
His priority, he said, was to prepare a comprehensive development programme for the constituency, previously represented by party stalwarts, such as former Deputy Prime Minister, David Coore.
His priorities, he said, would include education and training, and social and economic transformation, relying not only on state agencies, but working in collaboration with corporate entities, the churches and other civic organisations in the constituency.
"Western St. Andrew is centrally located with lots of untapped potential. The challenge is how to work with the community to unlock that potential," Hylton said.
