Most ministers face head-to-head battles

| 02/03/2021
Cayman News Service
Osbourne Bodden with his nominators, Roy Bodden and Lorenzo Berry

(CNS): With the exception of Roy McTaggart, all members of Cabinet running to retain their seats in the upcoming election are facing head-to-head races. Although this could make the campaign tougher than it might have been if they were facing multiple challengers to split the opposition vote, Premier Alden McLaughlin nevertheless expressed confidence on Monday that he will lead his coalition to victory.

McLaughlin dismissed his own challenger, Sammy Jackson, when he queried why a West Bayer was coming to Red Bay.

The premier also seemed comfortable that the two ministers representing the Sister Islands would be returned. But it is clear that, in addition to his own fight being tougher than he might be prepared to admit, his health and commerce ministers have significant battles on their hands.

While Jackson is going for the biggest PPM scalp of all, Johann Moxam presents a significant challenge for Joey Hew in George Town North and Osbourne Bodden cannot be dismissed as a viable contender to take Seymour’s seat in Bodden Town East.

While Jackson and Moxam recognise themselves as underdogs in their races, Moxam has significant name recognition after his high profile part in the successful Cruise Port Referendum campaign, and he came out fighting after his nomination on Monday.

Moxam said he was running for the GTN seat because it was the right time to engage and offer the people a choice. He said Hew has come up short “in a lot of ways over the last four years” and the people needed transparent and honest representation.

“I am not the candidate of special interest, I am the underdog,” he said. “I do not have any big developer or multi-billionaires backing me. I’m the guy that’s going to do it the right way.”

Jackson, who also says he is not being backed by any rich investors, is shaking off his image as the ‘developers’ rep’ and categorically denies any allegations that a vote for him in Red Bay is simply a jump out of McLaughlin’s development frying pan and into his development fire. He recently told CNS that Cayman needs to completely readdress its planning and development laws to put the environment at the centre.

Meanwhile, in BTE Bodden is no stranger to the campaign fight. A former member of the PPM, Bodden has served two terms in office and was the health minister during the 2013-2017 administration until he came into conflict in the infamous ‘driftwood’ scandal, in which he verbally abused his chief officer, Jennifer Ahearn. He has, however, apologised on several occasions for that behaviour.

As he has pointed out, apologising is something that Speaker McKeeva Bush has failed to do in relation to his conviction for a violent assault. He said this is one of the reasons why he, Wayne Panton and Heather Bodden all resigned from the Progressives and have formed their own alliance.

Bodden still retains a following in Bodden Town, despite being beaten in 2017 by Seymour, who was running as an independent unaffiliated with the PPM, while Bodden was at the time fully in the Progressive camp. However, the major difference this time around is the absence of any other contenders.

Seymour secured just under 38% of the vote in the 2017 four-way race, while Bodden managed just under 26%. But a third contender, Rayal Bodden, took more than 32% of the constituency vote in 2017 and he is Osbourne Bodden’s campaign manager for the 2021 elections.

Meanwhile, over in West Bay, Mario Ebanks is aiming for the biggest scalp of all. Aware that he is in the hardest fight of any challenger, even in a head to head, Ebanks was undeterred when he spoke following his nomination yesterday. Ebanks has faced McKeeva Bush before and said he will be doing his best to offer the people of West Bay West a real alternative to the veteran member.

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Category: Election News

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