( L - R ) PORTEOUS, BUNTINGDespite the shifting and changing, this did not harm the People's National Party (PNP) in Central Manchester as the voters refused to change course and elected Peter Bunting as their MP.
Bunting, who had defeated former Prime Minister Shearer in the 1993 General Election for the South East Clarendon seat, was a late replacement for Vando Palmer who was forced to resign after wife-beating allegations surfaced, but still managed to keep the JLP out of the PNP territory.
In 1980, the JLP's Sydney Beaumont polled 10,201 votes to 5.602 for PNP candidate Winston Jones, who had had a flawless record there since 1967. The immediate past MP, John Junor, had served from 1989. After winning by 729 votes on his first outing, Junor got his margin up to 2,682 by the 1997 election, but saw it slashed to 1,122 in the 2002 polls.
