Henry, Samuda now members of the elite 30-year club
Saturday, October 30, 2010 officially marked exactly 30 years since the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) scored that massive electoral victory with half-a-million votes and a tally of 51 seats to the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) nine, in what was then the most colossal conquest since Adult Suffrage, and the election with the highest ever turnout of voters when 87 per cent of the electors went to the polls.
This immense rejection of one party for the other, which heralded Edward Seaga as Jamaica’s fifth prime minister, became the epitome of Jamaica’s voter-turnout in general elections.
It was out of that JLP tsunami which swept cities, towns and the Jamaican countryside that emerged the two political dynamos, Mike Henry and Karl Samuda as first-time winners for the party. Thirty years later, Henry and Samuda continue to be the only successive survivors of that record tally of 34 newly elected members (all JLP) ushered into the system by the 1980 elections — and without the slightest indication of any kind of timeline relative to the remainder of their remarkable political careers.
Others of the present House membership who also came in for the first time in 1980 include Government members Dr Ken Baugh, Pearnel Charles, Ed Bartlett, Dr Horace Chang, Everald Warmington and J C Hutchinson. All had broken tenures along the way and all, but Warmington, are now representing different constituencies from the ones they won in 1980.
Opposition members Portia Simpson Miller and Dr D K Duncan who were MPs from 1976 and re-elected in 1980, exited Parliament in 1983 with the PNP’s election-boycott, then later made triumphant re-entries into Gordon House.
But this spectacular achievement by Henry and Samuda in attaining the ranks of the few who have officially served the country as elected members of the House for 30 years is not a regular feat in our political history. Only seven (all JLP veterans) hold this distinction (see chart), with elected service totalling over 226 years between them and with an overlapping expanse which cut across the entire 66 years of our modern political system. In fact, it has taken Henry and Samuda 13 years to be the next set of members to accomplish this milestone since Enid Bennett and Dr Neville Gallimore did so in early 1997.
The only other member likely to join this exclusive 30-year club anytime soon is Simpson Miller, although barring any unforeseen circumstances, this is not likely to happen until around February 2012. But significantly, she has already become the first person (and the first woman) in the PNP to surpass Sir Florizel Glasspole’s elected tenure of over 28 years which topped PNP longevity for decades, and going beyond the likes of PJ Patterson, Seymour Mullings, Winston Jones and Horace Clarke.
Interestingly, of the total of 342 individuals elected to Parliament since 1944, only 33 (9.6 per cent) have achieved or exceeded the 20-year mark thus far. Of this, the JLP (in spite of its dominance of the Top Ten) is only slightly ahead with 17 (51.5 per cent), and the PNP’s Roger Clarke is just bubbling under that chart with over 19 years.
What this means is that in the 66 years since Adult Suffrage, there has been a far greater turnover of elected parliamentary representatives than is generally assumed. This clearly tends to defeat the usual view of so many political analysts and commentators that our political representatives only got into politics for the long haul and to carve out professional political careers. There is no doubt some might have been participants in this practice, but in any case, is this really as bad as it is made out to be?
At a time when term limits has become a topical subject, we still have to acknowledge that most of our best elected representatives are not only on that Top Ten Chart, but are also among the longest servers whose longevity has impacted very positively on various aspects of the country’s development over the years.
Indeed, only a little more than a third or 123 (36.0 pr cent) of the 342 elected have served over 10 years in the House; 97 (28.4 per cent) have either been one-termers or have not yet reached five years (such as the present 2007 newcomers), leaving the remaining 122 (35.7 per cent) in the category of five to over nine years.
These very interesting statistics are also pivotal to the perennial argument about the age issue in politics. For while it is inevitable and commendable to push and promote the young ones to prominent leadership levels, this must come with some record of political stewardship to strike the right balance between young and old, which ideally, is the appropriate mix for political progress.
On the other hand, elder politicians such as Mike Henry and Karl Samuda who actually entered politics relatively young, truly represent the political virtues of age, experience, political skills, knowledge of the system and the distinct talent to win seats when they are needed.
However, some rather uncanny similarities have highlighted the political careers of both men. They are both regarded as ‘political tigers’ with an intensity hardly matched by their contemporaries and are also widely viewed as incredible ‘election day’ politicians.
Both started out over 35 years ago and before their first victory in 1980, both bit the dust in their first contests in 1976 — Henry losing to O D Ramtallie in Central Clarendon and Samuda going down to Dr Ken McNeill in North-West St Andrew.
Both men have each defeated a total of six opponents in six contests since 1980, with a different opponent in every contest; both recording 67 per cent as their highest percentage poll (Henry in 2007 and Samuda in 1980); both have been opposed by women and third party candidates, and neither man has served in the Upper House. Both served as ministers of state during the 1980s, are among the longest servers in their party, and are presently the longest-serving members of the House, continuously or otherwise.
Both now dominate constituencies in areas where the PNP once ruled, both very dominant in all parish council election results in their areas since 1981, and both have become the longest-serving politicians in their respective parishes of Clarendon and St Andrew, with both receiving National Honours for political service exceeding 20 years.
Lester Michael Henry
A native of Spanish Town and captain of the first victorious Sunlight Cup cricket team for Beckford & Smith High School (now St Jago) in 1952, Lester Michael Henry dabbled in the fast food business which produced his popular “nyamburger” and was already a distingushed publisher and author when he entered politics in the mid-1970s.
His first foray into representational politics in 1976 almost cost him his life when he was severely wounded by a blast from a double-barrelled shotgun while travelling in a party motorcade through the York Town area of South-West Clarendon. His miraculous survival and resilience to continue the struggle despite scars from the 252 pellets he still carries have become legendary.
In 1980, when the JLP swept to power, Henry razed Ramtallie by 3,475 votes to take the Central Clarendon seat, consisting mostly of metropolitan May Pen. Elected unopposed when the PNP boycotted proceedings in 1983, his margin fell to only 482 against Donna Scott-Bhoorasingh (now Mottley) when the JLP lost power in 1989. He then whipped Derrick Webb by 1,626 in 1993, grilled Coy Grandison by 2,746 in 1997, hammered Leopold Hylton by 2,155 in 2002 and overwhelmed the late Dr Neil McGill by 3,509 in 2007.
In seven contests, Mike Henry polled a total of 47,107 votes with an average poll of 56.8 per cent. His polls ranged from a high of 8,135 votes (61.3 per cent) in 1980 to a low of 4,661 (45.4 per cent) in 1976 and his average winning margin is a very comfortable 2,332.
One of the four ‘Henrys’ to be elected to the House, Mike Henry, at age 75, is currently the oldest member of parliament, but an extremely sharp, impulsive and impressive minister of transport & works whose hands-on style, hard work and consummate eloquence have become the hallmark of his role as a senior Cabinet minister in the Golding administration.
As the first JLP MP to totally control the city of May Pen, Henry was always rated number one as the best-serving MP in the Carl Stone Polls of former years. Even in the recent Sunday Observer constituency profiles, Henry came away with a 67.5 per cent approval rating. His versatility as a JLP legend includes service as a deputy leader for over a decade. And as a parliamentarian and a former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, he is the ultimate debater with impeccable diction who, like Karl Samuda, is not easily swayed.
Karl George Samuda
A Kingstonian, Ardenne Old Boy and a former manufacturer, Karl George Samuda is seven years Mike Henry’s junior, but at 68 he is about the sixth oldest member of the House. His earliest political influences started in the late 1960s while working in Mandeville where he became closely associated with the campaign of former JLP Mayor Glinton Mullings, then took on the role of campaign manager for David Lindo, JLP East-Rural St Andrew incumbent who lost to Eric Bell in 1972.
By the mid-1970s, Samuda emerged as one of the prominent candidate prospects for the JLP in anticipation of the pending boundary adjustments in the Corporate Area — especially Allan Isaacs’ massive North St Andrew seat (which stretched from Duhaney Park to Liguanea) and was expected to split into various other constituencies. This expectation became a reality with the creation of North-West, North-Central and East St Andrew in time for the 1976 general elections and the selection of Samuda as the first JLP candidate for North-West St Andrew.
Samuda’s enthusiasm was undaunted, whether it was tackling an area with historic PNP strength, or the prospect of taking on PNP veteran Dr Kenneth McNeill, who was moving up from East-Central St Andrew to be his first opponent. The trio of Samuda, Douglas Vaz and Dr Mavis Gilmour would actually form the nucleus of the JLP thrust that would eventually topple the PNP dominance in the suburban middle-class areas of St Andrew and in other urban areas islandwide. But in 1976, this was not going to be achieved in North-West St Andrew, and Dr McNeill took the seat by over 1,800 votes.
This setback for Samuda only served to rekindle an ever-burning zeal for political success. Within two years, McNeill became part of a group of very senior PNP stalwarts (which included Coore, Blake and Peart) who were jumping from Michael Manley’s sinking ship, resigning seats and ministries.
The vacancy created in North-West St Andrew in 1978 at a time when the big national swing had already started against the PNP, was an inviting prospect for Samuda. But under JLP leader Eddie Seaga, the JLP was in a mode of not contesting by-elections in protest over electoral reform, forcing Samuda to sit that one out and watch the drama. The by-election brought in veteran PNP trade unionist Carlyle Dunkley as the new member who got by candidates of minor parties with 99 per cent of the votes polled by only 34 per cent of the constituency’s electorate.
Samuda’s big day came in 1980 with JLP ‘Deliverance’ when he polled over 10,000 votes and trounced Dunkley by 5,646, the 13th highest margin in an election which saw some 26 people winning seats by majorities of over 3,000 votes. Elected unopposed in 1983, he switched to the revamped North-Central seat in 1989 (when Douglas Vaz moved over to the newly created North-East St Andrew constituency) and spanked the PNP’s Shirley-Ann Eaton by 1,873 votes.
But by 1991, it was the JLP’s turn to be embroiled with internal problems and Samuda found himself in the middle of it.
The JLP’s loss of state power in 1989 and the ensuing parish council elections in 1990 had engendered a lot of internal pressure and moreso on party leader Seaga, whose leadership style was now coming under severe scrutiny and criticism from some senior members of the party. This led to what became known as the ‘Gang of Five’ in 1991, a group comprised of Pearnel Charles, Douglas Vaz, Karl Samuda, Errol Anderson and Ed Bartlett.
It caused a major rift in the party which reverberated to the next general elections. While the problem festered, Samuda emerged as the most vocal and outspoken — which eventually led to his expulsion from the JLP, a brief stint as an Independent member, then his dramatic crossing of the floor to join the PNP in 1992. Of the five, only Samuda had refused to take Seaga’s advice to “light a candle, sing a sankey, and find your way back home”, and the only one to retain his seat in 1993 when the JLP suffered its most devastating defeat at the polls at the hands of P J Patterson.
This was a situation not entirely new to the JLP, as in the Spring of 1947, party founder Alexander Bustamante found himself confronted by the first ‘Gang of Five’ in his first administration and for similiar reasons. The rebellion led by Agriculture Minister E R D Evans dragged away B B Coke, Gideon Gallimore, Hugh Cork and Lester Simmonds to the ill-fated Agricultural & Industrial Party (AIP).
Bustamante’s response, which was similiar to Seaga’s but perhaps far more autocratic, nearly cost him the 1949 elections, and of those five, again only one — Simmonds — sang the sankey, found his way back home and retained his seat in what became (and still is) Jamaica’s closest election result.
But the acquisition of someone with the political stature of a Samuda in the NEC became a clear asset for the PNP. The excitement triggered by his defiance and grandstanding against the JLP was fully utilised in the Party’s hectic 1993 election campaign and his decision to re-contest his seat as a PNP candidate became the contest of the election.
Sent by the JLP to stem the Samuda tide in North-Central St Andrew, young Tom Tavares-Finson faltered by just 171 votes (2.6 per cent) and Samuda marched on into the record books to join others like B B Coke, Rose Leon and O A Malcolm who had switched from the JLP to the PNP with electoral success in the same areas of their respective parishes.
But the political marriage of convenience would be short-lived.
Perhaps out of the disappointment at being appointed a mere state minister when a more loftier post was expected for the big sacrifice which enhanced their election programme, Samuda’s fling with the PNP turned out to be no more than a political one-night stand, and by late 1995 the old ‘rockstone Labourite’ crossed the floor again and rejoined the JLP.
Many people who anticipated that re-contesting his North-Central seat as a JLP prodigal in the 1997 elections would pose some kind of problem for Samuda, clearly misjudged the demographics of the seat and the tenacity of a master politician. He soared past the PNP’s Sonia Rickards by some 949 votes and established his own unique record — that of becoming the first (and only) person to have gone successfully from one major party to the other in the same seat, then returned to the former party to retain that same seat and all within a period of five years!
The only other person whose earlier political feats were comparable would have been the late Kenneth George Hill. His expulsion from the PNP in 1952 took him into his own party, the NLP under which he lost his West Kingston seat (1955), then into the JLP to be elected JLP Federal Member for Surrey (1958), then much later (after Federation) back into the PNP (1967) and finally again as unelected PNP councillor in the KSAC (1969-81) — exactly where his political story started back in 1947.
Samuda, confronted in 2002 by another woman in Barbara Clarke, the former NDM candidate who got an encouraging 14.6 per cent share of the ballots in the constituency’s 1997 contest, battered his PNP opponent by 2,406 votes. His latest victim in 2007, Christopher Munroe, whose poll only exceeded Clarke’s by 63 votes, was clobbered by 2,706 and a margin of 28.1 per cent.
In seven contests, Samuda polled a total of 42,867 votes with an average of 56.5 per cent, virtually identical to that of Mike Henry. His polls ranged from a high of 10,592 (67.0 per cent) in 1980 to a low of 3,883 (47.2 per cent) in 1993 and his average winning margin is a very secure 2,308.
One of the seven ‘Karls’ (whether spelt with a K or a C) elected to the House since 1944, Samuda might have become one of the elder legislators in Gordon House, but still a very astute parliamentarian and minister of industry, commerce & investment who also serves as a member of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica.
An outstanding political representative and party organiser who is widely regarded as one of politics’ most experienced, influential, wily and fearless practitioners — a throwback, perhaps to icons like Clem Tavares and Florizel Glasspole — Samuda’s resonance with people coupled with his awesome political self-confidence is really matched by only a few. Which is why he still got the nod from voters, whether as a member of the PNP’s NEC or the JLP’s Central Executive.
The fact that he could have left the JLP, ‘partied’ with the other side to become the prolific political prodigal who was re-embraced by rank and file of the party, conferred with the sensitive post of general secretary for the past six years and made a senior Cabinet member, is a clear testament to the political value and acumen of Samuda, who essentially, has done it all. His reputation as an extremely meticulous politician with a vast knowledge of the political system is legendary, and he claims to know every single house in his constituency.
Never mind his failing 37.5 per cent approval rating in the Sunday Observer constituency vox pop. Where Samuda is concerned, that could be a false sense of hope for his next opponent.
Interestingly, both Henry and Samuda are now holding their own in a Cabinet and indeed a Government that is the most balanced in age since or before Independence.
At a time when our present generation of young politicians and political hopefuls are rising up for recognition, relevance and roles conducive to the current political climate, it would be wise to observe and acknowledge the tremendous contribution of legends like Mike Henry, Karl Samuda and all the others whose longevity in the system has been an enhancement to the political development of the country.
For while it is imperative that the time must come for all to call it a day and make way for the passage of younger blood, the ‘stepping-up’ process can only be based on a record of solid performance and participation.
And because timing is everything in politics, no nation or any political party will really flourish without both the innovation of youth and the auspicious experience of older heads, working together in tandem for progress.
— Troy Caine is a politiical historian and supporter of the Jamaica Labour Party