McTaggart tries again after 2013 forced withdrawl

(CNS Elections): Local businessman and community activist, Kent McTaggart, will be entering the political fray in the 2017 election campaign as an independent in Savannah. McTaggart was a casualty of the Election Law in 2013, when he stepped down from the campaign after declaring his intention to run because he had not been resident in Cayman for a full seven years before Election Day. The advice he received from election officials that ended his run early became even more controversial when it was revealed that Tara Rivers, who went on to win a seat, was also living elsewhere during the seven years before the ballot.

McTaggart was living in Nashville, for several years before returning to Cayman because of the medical needs of his son, which could not be met locally. McTaggart only returned to his native Cayman when his son was eventually able to be cared for here. Although the law provides for absence for medical reasons for the candidate, there is nothing about children, so McTaggart was advised not to run.

But it later emerged that Rivers had been working in London for a UK-based law firm for part of the previous seven years before the election but she remained in the battle and went on to an historic victory in West Bay. An election challenge saw the case taken to the Grand Court and the chief justice, who decided the case, found that Rivers’ time in London could be accommodated in the law as a learning experience. He found that the law firm she was employed by could be seen as an educational institution where, although she was employed as a qualified associate attorney on a full salary, she was studying to further develop her career.

Despite the 2013 derailed campaign and the findings of the court and what appeared to be the arbitrary nature of advice given about the qualification of candidates, McTaggart is returning to the political hustings, confident this time that he is fully qualified to stand as he has now been resident in the islands for the last seven years.

Since the 2013 election, McTaggart has remained engaged with key community issues and describes himself as “the neighbor that does what others didn’t and won’t do”, having been involved in a number of campaigns for change. But with many local families still struggling, there is more to be done, he said.

“I am ready to fight for Cayman, where we, the people, are prospering once again and have the quality of life that is second to none,” he said. “Caymanian inclusion in the success of our island can’t be left as a memory of the 1970s and 80s; it must be part of our enduring story. ”

McTaggart said the political leadership over the past decade has focused on the next election rather than the next generation, and the country needs new leaders that understand “Caymanians first”. He said he will use his voice and “relentless conviction” to advance local interests.

Tags: Kent McTaggart

Category: Candidates