McTaggart to take over PPM leadership
(CNS): Reviewing the events of the last year, Premier Alden McLaughlin launched his own and the PPM’s election campaign on Wednesday from the Legislative Assembly when he announced that the finance minister, Roy McTaggart, will be his successor as leader of the party. McLaughlin said he was running to retain his Red Bay seat and hoped to assist in a third PPM-led government, but he was confident that McTaggart would be up to the task of succeeding him as premier.
Claiming a catalogue of achievements by his administration, McLaughlin urged the country to retain those who had delivered instead of what he described as a “mismatched group of individuals who in the past four years have shown that the only thing that unites them is political ambition and political opportunism”.
He paid tribute to McTaggart, stating that the country has been fortunate to have a “figure of his stature and experience at the helm at this time”, as he pointed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. “His stewardship of the public purse has been, notwithstanding, remarkable,” the premier added, before he revealed that McTaggart would be the person taking up the leadership baton.
In the first public declaration of who would be his successor, McLaughlin said, “I am confident that the man who has managed this country’s finances during this term is more than up to the task of succeeding me as premier.”
As he wrapped up his address about the last year and what he said the Government of National Unity had done, McLaughlin took aim at the government’s opponents outside the House as well as within.
“No doubt beyond the official opposition, there are others already recruiting their committees and planning their campaigns against those on this side,” he said, referring to the government bench. “We have heard many of them clogging the airwaves and social media platforms to spread their particular mixture of platitudes and misinformation. I have heard lots of talk but no solutions, nor indeed who they will work with to deliver for the Caymanian people.”
He criticised these unidentified opponents planning to run for office of wanting to wind back the clock to a mythical golden age that exists only in their rose-tinted remembrances.
“Its self-appointed leaders want to limit Cayman to some replay of their imagined past because they doubt Caymanians’ capacity to achieve and to thrive in a future that is there to be grasped if we have the courage to do so,” he said.
McLaughlin said he was honoured to lead the Progressives and to have led the Unity Government over this term. “We have had challenges and, yes, we have had our differences along the way. But we have achieved much progress and created hope and confidence in Cayman’s future by working together and staying together.”
The premier said he did not know exactly what the future holds for Cayman but that Caymanians had the power and the ability to create a new future, as he urged the country to vote for the people on his side led by the PPM for what would be an effective third term.
However, it is not clear if the coalition will hold through the election and which of the independents will be campaigning on the PPM platform. While McKeeva Bush, Captain Eugen Ebanks, Dwayne Seymour, Austin Harris and even Tara Rivers have supported this government, none of them have joined the Progressives.
It is also not clear when, or if, the PPM’s national executive has actually voted for McTaggart and whether or not there were any other party members that had hoped to take over the helm.
Joey Hew has long been rumoured to be McLaughlin’s heir apparent but it is understood that local polling suggested that McTaggart has one of the safest PPM seats and remains popular among party members and voters in general.
Category: Politics
Roy was elected last time because he ran as a C4C independent and gave his constituents some hope for change, or at least a critical dissenting opinion once in awhile. That veneer of hope is long gone now as he plays the game and saddles up, just like all the rest. Sad.
Thank You! I wish Alden would go to his farm and retire. Young ppl are suffering under Alden regime.
1. Cost of living
2. Can’t find work
3. Education system has gone from bad to worst
4. Took away our freedom
Please don’t run in Red Bay!
4:06 am, jezzrum go back to sleep what’s WORST anyway your sleeping habits or your bad spelling.
I hope Aldean don’t do to Roy, what he did to Marco #setup
All 8 and you 4:53 pm get over it. Ryan beat he ratted
Its all very similar to the changes to legislation to comply with CFATF and the EU. What you see – and how that translates into practice – are very different things. The fact that the current Premier is not standing down but remaining in the LA is interesting. If the PPM succeed he will be a constant reminder of the former administration, nd no one will ever accept that he is not pulling the strings. Wouldnt surprise me if he decided he should be the next Speaker!
Kurt is also circling the shallows and involved in the current planning administration debacles (including short-lived Smith Cove remodel). DUI recidivist Rolston holding clubhouse meetings in West Bay with McKeeva. These echoes from the recent past are like a bad case of Herpes that never goes away.
Sad. Sad. Sad.
New younger intelligent Caymanians are needed to replace the career politicians.
The guard must change otherwise if you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you always got.
4:35 Hohoho that would be something else two turtle meat loving politicos and a has been driver signing. a truce to join together and form the next government kiss me neck.
MITIAMA is for him. Lots of travel.
Nah…hes too arrogant, narcissistic and self praising to take a position that lets others do all the talking!
So let me see if I got this straight. The Deputy Premier, who has been a loyal lackey of PPM, is not going to be the next PPM leader?
Does this mean that the Deputy Premier is not going to run for his perpetual seat in CBW/LC?
All of this stuff seems very odd …. and who did not know what the Deputy Premier was years ago – book added nothing new.
While PPM is outlining their leadership plans, I trust those plans include being part of the opposition after May 2021.
Moses has never wanted to be Premier. He likes sitting behind and pulling strings from there.
Moses is rich enough to afford being honest.
Rich enough to afford it but no guarantee that it ensures honestly.
Now that the money is all gone bring in a guy who can use a spreadsheet. Makes sense….
https://www.dartrealestate.com/blog/the-cayman-islands-a-jurisdiction-of-choice-for-ultra-wealthy-chinese-families/
The money is coming from China via ….
In a time of economic crisis you need a finance guy but also he seems the most able and honest of them all. Fingers crossed. Would increase the respect for the Cayman political class.
7.00pm Only one with some class politically and personally.
Roy is an honourable man and a great civil servant – but he doesn’t really take any strong political views. In his current position, he is absolutely wonderful. Will he have the courage to lead Cayman?
He doesn’t have the courage under normal circumstances. Competent but too nice a guy who wants to be liked. If both Joey Chineproxy Hew and Alden Lookatme McLaughlin are reelected and find themselves in Roy’s cabinet, then there is no chance anything will change. It will be a money grabbing get-rich term.
He doesnt need to. At the end of the day, everything PPM is run by the puppet master Mr Tibbets. Same guy who is a “planning consultant” and who has been dictating all the concessions to developers that Planning and CPA are scapegoated for through the Ministry.
You can replace every board member and planning staff, it wont make a difference. If they dont adhere, they will simply be replaced with people who follow instructions. Even planning reviewer write ups for CPA agenda/meetings are “edited” when they dare colour outside of the lines. Those of us with integrity resigned.
Those of us with integrity huh, how grandiose and yet how cowardly you are.
Put ya.name then we can vouch for you, otherwise we know why you got kicked out.
Roy is honorable and descent. Thats more than most in his party and certainly more than the opposition. So I will go with Roy!!! Here’s to Roy our future Premier
He’s a decent guy! It’s the PPM crew that’s the problem it’s a complete puppet show. The current premier has become a dictator and still will be part of the party. Why do you think Marco, Wayne and Ozzie left the party. Well the only thing I can say is the Party Leader is the problem. CHANGE is needed please vote them out May 2021
It doesn’t matter who you put there things will never change in Cayman! High cost of living, education system is poor, ppl going hungry, nothing in Government runs smoothly. Country will never change even under a new direction.
On a point of order, Roy McTaggart is not, and has never been, a civil servant.
Now if this isn’t a sign of desperation!! lol Roy couldn’t even manage KPMG, much less a country!!
“Independent” Roy would be well-advised to defect to start his own leadership dynasty, being very careful who is admitted to that circle as colleagues. I could get around that. He needs to put big distance between himself and all the other PPM/UDP and self-ascribed independent turncoats to be any kind of ticket choice in 2021.
Spending 8 years with our civil service has prepared Roy well.
Folks if the person asking for your vote is unemployed or struggling in employment should you really vote for them.
Congrats Roy. You will be an outstanding Premier.
Please keep Finance as Premier but no other ministerial duties.
Pick an experience Deputy someone with many years of political experience perhaps the current Premier.
Keep the current Premier? I never knew you had mental problems!!! Have you lost your mind? “Keep the current Premier”? I can’t believe you said that!
Alden didn’t say he would be the next Premier. He is appointing him as the new Head of the PPM Party. He has to get elected first and hope that the PPM gets enough votes to form another government. then and only then can he even be considered for Premier.
The problem now is that the PPM is a broken and fractured party. In fact if you look around the current makeup of the LA all you see is PPM remnants splattered with a few UDP Members. I strongly believe that after this election we will either be free of the PPM and UDP and there will be enough level heads ready to put a cohesives government together.
Thankful it’s clear Generational Caymanian, well liked and if Panton doesn’t run again and get the nomination for Premier, then Mr Roy must decent choice. I can’t believe they were really considering Joey or Arden. Respect them for what they have done but they both have ties to Jamaica through marriage (Arden) and Joey’s father, making it too easy for continued preference to what Jamaicans want… full power in and of Cayman.
Oh boy, hope they don’t start the lobbying to pressure their powerful groups to pull reins of puppets and get a Jamaican as Premier now just to show us who’s in charge!
LOL….Roy’s late mother (RIP) was Jamaican. What’s your bigotry got to say now?
The real difference is that Roy doesn’t go around claiming that he has control and the votes of the “Jamaican Mafia”. A little humility goes a long way.
Also Roy’s mother was an educated and dignified lady.
If minister aHew said that I’m like Sammy that plant corn in the gully.
I harbor no prejudice toward the elderly.
But Gerontocracy must not continue. Why should we care how old our leaders are?
Cognitive functioning declines dramatically on average after age 70, and the types of intelligence that decline most sharply on average are the capacity to absorb large amounts of new information and data in a short time span and apply it to solve problems in unaccustomed fashion.
It would seem advisable to have at least a few more people in the higher reaches of government on whom we can rely still to possess this skill in youthful abundance.
The cognitive-function issue is not a theoretical one. The healthy older brain is, well, different from the healthy younger brain, and if you care about politics that’s worth making some effort to understand. Certain tasks are just harder as you get older, even if you’re very smart. Your mental reflexes are slower.
It takes you longer to remember someone’s name. Multitasking is more challenging. Learning foreign languages is more difficult, and adjusting to unfamiliar cultures is perhaps a bit harder. You can overcome these obstacles if you make some effort, but not everybody makes the effort.
You may have a point; there are many young politicians whose cognitive decline will never become noticeable, given the level from whence they start.
9.30am Unfair when they can continue in their government positions, receive pensions, health insurance and all other benefits and perks at that age but others outside of government are considered ‘old’ which is ageism and antiquated. People have been working into their 70’s and beyond if they want to, willing and able.
However, correct that these present members of the LA are so prehistoric and outdated in mindset and manner, it is gruesome to watch them on TV. Especially picking their noses, looking at it and then flicking it…. Who washes their hands and sanitizes! Gruesome!
9.30am Blatant age discrimination.
I wish I had a brain.
Dwaynes not that old
Oh please Joey who is right he sould not have been ther from the start he will not get back in we will see to that along with uneducated austin harris roy yes then we can go afther KPMG
“uneducated austin harris” – says the poster who is a stranger to capitalisation, spelling, grammar and sentence structure.
Amazing. Actually hopeful for Cayman politics for once. It would have been impossible to find someone more intelligent and qualified (among the current elected members) to take over the helm.
Lets not jump the gun, leader of PPM doesn’t make him Preminar. PPM would have to win the elections. Voters vote smart 2021
To become Premier, you also have to win your individual seat. If any party wins a majority, their leader can only be appointed Premier if he or she was also elected. Fortunately for us, there are no “safe seats” anywhere in Cayman where a party leader is guaranteed to be elected.
As a consolation, and very rewarding prize, I suppose the party in power can always appoint their leader to the post of Speaker.
Alden and Roy still have to win their own districts too.
This is a very good strategic move by PPM. Roy is well liked by many. Will it be enough to resurrect the Party, allowing them to maintain power…that remains to be seen.
Alden knows it’s an uphill battle. His government members are out of touch with the average Caymanian, and frankly don’t really care to be. I was hearing that it was supposed to be Hew who would take up the PPM leadership. But as we have seen, he only care about those who live in a certain area.
As a PPM supporter of the past, this move will not sway me next election. Sorry Alden, unlike most Caymanians, I do not suffer from amnesia. I remember the bs done over the last four years. I am very concerned about the Bills you are brining to the House this sitting.
So, good choice on the designation of Roy, but it won’t bring me back to the Party.
Wow just wow. Roy’s first act as Ppm leader was to refuse a suggestion from Newlands MLA Suckoo that companies who have illegally dismissed Caymanians during the pandemic should not be allowed to benefit from the government loan guarantees. The government basically chose to support and reward criminal activity over protecting the rights of Caymanians. What a great start!
‘Illegally dismissed” is in the eye of the beholder , as there are 3 sides to every story.
Withholding benefits as Suckoo suggested would also damage Caymanians still employed by those companies.
Besides, the suggestion was an ill considered blatant pander to a few of his own.
Well done Roy, good decision.
It is obvious to me that most politicians are suffering with narcissistic personality disorder.
Couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag.
Hmmmmm…. what a shit show.
A sensible choice, however the PPM must at all cost avoid a coalition with the West Bay vote buyers, the Bush bloc somehow needs to be removed in it’s entirety to restore public confidence in our politicians.
McKeeva has all the power in West Bay. West Bay goes the way the great man McKeeva goes. McKeeva will call the shots next year because he has by far the most political IOU’s and has all the developers behind him.
decent fellow no doubt…but his inability to read the current economic climate is staggering. despite his government on course for $300m/year deficit….he said his government will not consider reducing spending or cutting back the civil service.
he either does not understand basic macroeconomics or he is blind to the economic reality facing us..which is it?
Yes, but he understands the voting block which is the Civil Service.
No one will cut anything until June 2021 at the earliest
PPM need to be voted out…. They have caused too much stress to the working man/woman
I think he might just be leading a defunct party with himself in it next year. People are fed up with the same characters under a different party and slogan. Time is up, Cayman needs foresight, innovation, accountability and full transparency which is the opposite of what we have been force fed for the last 20 plus years.
To 10.09pm Sorry but you won’t be getting that foreign backed Government made up of new Caymanians that you desire. Caymanians beware of these newcomers making a lot of noise around the place and being followed by certain young college educated youngsters usually having one parent from the UK,USA,or Canada.
“Certain young college educated youngsters usually having one parent from the UK, USA, or Canada”
Okay, I’ll admit, you threw a rock and I’m the squealing pig. I am Caymanian 10+ generations on one side, and my other parent is from Miami from before it became New Cuba. I am highly educated.
Now, my Caymanian grandmother – who for privacy reasons, I will not reveal, but who has the authority and the knowledge to tell anyone what or who is or is not Caymanian – always raised me with the notion that if you had never left Cayman, you had nothing to offer it, and if you had talent, your job was to go overseas, develop it, bring it back and invest it in Cayman through personal service. That’s what I’m doing with my life, but to hear you tell it, people should be skeptical of me.
You appear to be advocating a blinkered existence in which people should be wary of worldliness, and feel safe in ignorance. I am afraid that given how open the world has become – COVID aside – Cayman has no chance to retain what is left of its identity over the long term. It will, sadly, fade fully into history. What going to university and coming back and seeing things from both perspectives has shown me is that the guarantees we tried to give Caymanians that they would never be supplanted could not co-exist alongside our immigration system, which had to offer the promise of citizenship to work. Unavoidably, new Caymanians will supplant old Caymanians.
I tried to date another Caymanian in a serious way with serious intentions, so that we might be just two out of thousands not choosing to dilute Cayman any further, but it couldn’t work. We’d both been overseas, you see, and learnt different things. We’d had completely different upbringings. We’d never met or heard of each other before. But it still didn’t work! And even if a full Caymanian and ‘half’ Caymanian by your reckoning have a child, that child is only three-quarters Caymanian.
So we are going to be, and we are being, replaced at this very moment. It has been going on for a long time. I have seen it in entry to law firms: the children of McKeeva status grant holders are being held up as examples of young Caymanian success. They’re all white, they’re all rich, and they’re only Caymanian when it suits them, but they do the public relations job just fine. Expect that to continue until the only ‘real’ Caymanians left have nothing to do but complain that they missed decades worth of signs that they needed to start seriously hustling because this place would soon be just like everywhere else in the world.
So I would invite you to rethink your views, in light of the changing world and changing Cayman we have now. What we need is an aggressive push to preserve our culture and history, combined with an aggressive charge in to the future, in order to ensure our prosperity and harmony.
While I can understand the choice to make Roy the leader given the other options.The question remains will he allow himself to be controlled by the likes of Alden and Mckeeva if the unity team were to by some miracle to win re-election, or will he bow to their pressure?
One work permit revenue driven monkey for another…if ppm gets back in Caymanians gonna have to wait four more years for a job or promotion.
Wonder what Joey thinks about all this…
Joey Who?
He on the phone to Arden so they can lament in unison.
Marl road has seen Joey in little cayman on a few occasions over the past few weeks in deep private discussions with Wayne Panton who is seeking to lead an alliance and see’s himself as the next Premier.
I think Roy McTaggart better prepare for a possible coup d’etat in the PPM leadership race because everybody thinks they should be the leader.
Note to Anon 9:42 pm:
“what Joey thinks about this”……. The answer to your question,
“He doesn’t!”
Roy McTaggart was the only choice the PPM had because Joey Hew is an unqualified dunce that works for the development sector. The current Premier does not like and cannot trust Juliana O’Connor-Connolly. Moses K cannot stand the heat after the expensive public failure of the dock while getting exposed by CPR and that book sealed his fate as leader. Alden McLaughlin needs to resign from politics go farming or to Honduras. It would be great if Marco Archer ran against him in Red Bay.
Hopefully The “honourable” John John Can join Alden on his farm in Honduras. We know he likes donkeys so it should be an easy sell.
8.03am. Wow a well thought out comment. Must have taken a lot of time to come up with that one.
Juliana O’Connor-Connolly???????????? How can you even bring her into this? In a real world she won’t qualify for a janitor position.
She would be a church organiser or something. Someone who hands out flyers, and cups of fruit juice to children.
How many times did Alden say he was going to retire from politics over the last 24 months?
Oh please! Tell us you didn’t believe a word he said. I don’t really know Roy, just hoping he is not as vindictive and petty as Alden.
Sleepy Roy
That is welcome news. Roy is the only one of that bunch that can represent this country on the world stage and not be an embarrassment. Roy is honest and fair and will keep the best interest of people in mind. He doesn’t need the job and is in it for the right reasons. He has my support.
Agreed9.11
We should by now have learned the consequences of havIng self serving unemployed and uneducated buffoons in leadership roles. Add Panton and Archer to the LA and get rid of the famously corrupt who are anxious to drag us into becoming Jamaica .
9.11 please stop the propaganda. Why don’t you name the bunch that you would like to see control Caymanians. Obviously you don’t want Jamaican/Caymanians . Could it be that you want British or American/Caymanians.
What will dart do now that their camana boi Joey has fallen from grace?
One thing is certain it’s official Joey is in real trouble now in GT North and Alden has now promptly ditched him.
Just buy the next minister that has planning and infrastructure as their their portfolio….
First ask yourself who employs both Roy’s wife and his daughter.
Ah, very good question. I do believe in asking the right questions if you want the right answers.
TAXES on the horizon!!! Income and property!!!
Yes for Roy! I wish Alden would step down and give the helm to Roy.
I am from Red Bay. Can someone run against the thing called Alden. Our choice last time shot him self in the foot and other was a brotherly Tibbetts plant to get Alden in.
Pls cancel the Austin Alden comedy show In that area
Brilliant move by the PPM
8;38. Don’t worry the mental health facility is being built.
Thank you Roy for accepting this challenging post. With the support of the civil service you will continue the amazing tract record of Premier Mclaughlin.
Poor little Joey. Awww diddumms. Crying in to his Veuve tonight no doubt.
#JOEYWHO
Poor lil Joey Who. I cant believe he thought was going to be Premier looks like Alden lies to him too. Joey Is not going to win his seat in 2021
Is this the chap who suggested he may have to implement a tax on us a few weeks back?
yep…then flip-flopped the next day.
If we continue on the current path of economic destruction there will be no choice next year other than to implement a personal income tax. CIG has to have revenues to support the Civil Service. Sad but economic reality.
What happened to the very recent 12,000 private equity fund CIMA registrations at $4k a pop or $48mm – is that the annual CIMA wage bill?!?
Well ther eis another option – cutting expenditure. Sad but an economic reality, quote you.
same one sigh !!!
Would love to see him as our leader. I think he has both the intellect and the guts to be a force for Cayman. Quiet strength. Calm and thoughtful, yet wise.
God bless Roy!!
I see him as a bit like Truman. Maybe not what he signed up for, but more than able to the task. Smart, objective, honest. Just understated in demeanor.
Think he would be a person to guide us wisely during this difficult time. I will back him.
He is a bright, honest, decent, intelligent and reliable man. I wish him the best.
Roy is weak willed and doesn’t stand up for anything. He’s a nice man that is easily led ask his former partners at KPMG.
Which could also mean that he actually listens to those around him
I have no dog in this fight and am open to any number of candidates come election day.
BUT, the more I read this statement the more I think: what else could we want in a leader?
Well, that seals the comedy show. Roy has borrowed a half Billion dollars just in the last year. He’s approved purchase of aircraft we must pay to lease but can’t fly. A second turtle farm on the Brac. The Port deal. What else, man? Retire. All of you.
Anyone who supported the port and turned a blind eye to the backroom deals as Roy did deserves to go.
This man got in on an anti ppm platform along with Tara . Look who they’re backing now.
Well, if people didn’t think that was a political strategy aren’t listening ….his cousins were all PPM and the same night he won, they were there embracing him!
Congrats Mr Mctaggart! Now if we have Ezzard, Roy, Wayne Panton, Archer, Frank McField getting elected in 2021 and
getting rid of Joey, Arden, Julianna and Tara,
think we are on our way to getting some positive change for Generational Caymanians.
9:42 am, agreed to all except Frank, come on people please not Frank
Please not Frankie again. Remember those rusted homes brought in from Cuba.
God bless Frank!
Not Frank, I cannot stand his long and verbose sermons full of talk of racism and how he was held back from progressing in Cayman.
9.42am Are you a Generational Caymanian? No. Didn’t think so.
Hete we go again with the hierarchy of Caymanian and we wonder why Caymanians in general have become the minority with no voice of solidarity.
Would be like the Venezuelan government.
Yikes
Ppm is now unbeatable in 2021.fixed the dump and a former CEO of a big four company to lead the Government.
Some of the people running against the office don’t have jobs. Really!!!
Fixed the dump? Did you read the press release where they said they are going to start to fix part of the dump but the rest of the project is still being negotiated and is unlikely to be done until 2024? CEO of a big 4 firm? How about senior partner of a small branch of a big 4 firm.
Fix the damn dump Roy! Joey couldn’t get it done.
I thought the party leader was selected by a party membership vote. Can someone explain how he was selected? Is these how it is done in party structure in the Cayman Islands?
The party system in Cayman is a joke.
There is no difference between Alden’s ppm even though Kurt is the true leader of that party, McKeeva’s udp or Ezzard’s cipp.
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/08/political-cults-of-personality/
7:24. Where are you living the contract to fix the dump has been signed.
Congrats Roy.
CNS: Please stop posting this about the dump. It is very far from true. See here.
Thank you CNS.
Some people read the headlines but don’t understand the true position the deal is not finalized.
Hmmm interesting. Good for business I suppose