SEVERAL of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) heavyweights will be absent from Parliament’s Lower House when it reconvenes following last evening’s historic loss to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at the polls.

Peter Bunting, Dr Dayton Campbell, Ian Hayles, Wykeham McNeill, Dr Fenton Ferguson, Luther Buchanan, and Horace Dalley — the majority of whom moved against party President Dr Peter Phillips in last September’s leadership race — all lost their seats.

Marred by low voter turnout across the island that may be attributed to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the results were shocking for many as a national swing such as this has not been registered since the 1980 General Election.

The JLP claimed 49 seats to the PNP’s 14 in the preliminary count last evening.

Jamaica Observer pollster Bill Johnson, in his latest poll findings released days before the election, said though the Opposition PNP had managed to pull five points from the 19-point lead held by the JLP in July as campaigning intensified, the 14-point lead held by the JLP would carry the party to victory.

In a subsequent media interview, Johnson declared that the JLP could win as many as 50 seats.

Yesterday, the Manchester Central constituency held by Bunting since 2007 fell to newcomer Rhoda Moy Crawford, while six-time MP Ferguson lost to Dr Michelle Charles.

Buchanan, meanwhile, was among the three PNP incumbents to lose the Westmoreland constituencies long considered strongholds for the Opposition party.

The political tide also moved against Bunting-backer Hayles in Hanover Western where he was soundly defeated by the JLP’s Tamika Davis.