Portia Simpson-Miller - 2011 Elections

2011 Elections

On 5 December 2011, rival JLP Prime Minister Andrew Holness asked the Governor-General, Sir Patrick Allen, to dissolve Parliament, and call for new elections despite the fact that elections were not constitutionally necessary until September 2012. The date of the early election was set as 29 December 2011, and major local media outlets viewed the election as "too close to call", though as Simpson-Miller campaigned in key constituencies the gap widened to favour the PNP. Days before the election, Simpson-Miller came out fully in favor of LGBT rights in a televised debate, sparking an eleventh-hour controversy ahead of the vote.

In early vote counting on 29 December, it was apparent that the PNP was winning a large number of swing constituencies. By evening, the Jamaica Observer had declared 41 of 63 constituencies for the PNP. The election results were officially declared by the Electoral Office of Jamaica, and on the request of the Governor General Simpson-Miller formed the new Jamaican government in Her Majesty's name for a second non-consecutive term as Jamaica's Prime Minister. She became the second individual to have served non-consecutive terms, the first having been Michael Manley.