Golding eyes historic PNP victory in North East Manchester

Leader of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP), Mark Golding, has said the political party expects to claim a "historic victory" in the North East Manchester seat in the next general elections.

The PNP has selected businessman Valenton 'Val' Wint as its candidate for the seat in the national polls which are due by September of this year.

Incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Manchester, the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Audley 'Man A Yard' Shaw, indicated last year that he will not be contesting the seat when the elections are called.

During a tour of sections of North East Manchester on Wednesday, Golding said the PNP performed well in the constituency in last February's Local Government Elections.

"We see it (North East Manchester) as one (in) which a historic victory is possible for us, and so, I was advised to come and visit Christiana and other towns and districts here," the PNP president told reporters.

He said he was accompanied on his tour of the constituency by Wint, the party's parochial councillors there, Mandeville Mayor and PNP candidate for Central Manchester, Donovan Mitchell, and other party officials.

"It's a good day, and we're well received here in Christiana, and I'm very pleased to be here with the people on the ground," Golding stated.

Following last year's municipal polls, the JLP has control of one parochial division, to the PNP's two in North East Manchester.

The development has given the PNP hope that it can claim the constituency in the next polls.

Shaw, who has been MP for the constituency since 1993, formally announced his intention not to seek re-election at the JLP's North East Manchester constituency conference in November. During his address at the meeting, Shaw endorsed Councillor for the Craighead Division, Omar Miller, as his replacement.

However, that endorsement did not go down well with another long-time aspirant for the seat, Hidran McKulsky, the Principal of Holmwood Technical High School in Christiana.

McKulsky claimed at the time that he was not invited to the constituency's conference, which Miller rubbished back then.

The JLP is yet to formally announce a successor to Shaw in the constituency.

McKulsky is no stranger to politics, as he previously represented the JLP in South Manchester in the 2016 General Elections, losing to the PNP’s Michael Stewart by a margin of over 1,100 votes.