UPM seeks to constitutionally enshrine EE and NS seats
(CNS): Just five weeks before Nomination Day and the official start of the general election campaign, the minority UPM administration, which lost its mandate to govern almost four months ago, is seeking to change the Cayman Islands Constitution. During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the remaining five ministers voted to accept a draft motion recommending that North Side and East End each have a guaranteed dedicated member of parliament.
The two constituencies remain the smallest on Grand Cayman, and until this year, they have seen only flight incremental growth. In discussions about Cayman’s election landscape, some have suggested that they be merged as the number of voters continues to grow in the Bodden Town constituencies.
While questions remain about the sudden surge in North Side voters, which has grown in this election cycle by more than 20%, the two seats have a combined total of 1,910 voters, which is not that much more than the 1,765 voters in the second biggest and neighbouring constituency of Bodden Town East.
However, with historical and cultural distinctions between the two districts and in light of their geographical size, the idea of making them one seat has usually been met with opposition and arguments about the difficulties of one MP representing a combined seat.
There is precedent for retaining constituencies regardless of size, as the Sister Islands are guaranteed two seats even though they are the two smallest in the country. According to the election register, which is currently being verified, there are just 523 voters in Cayman Brac East and 608 in Cayman Brac West and Little Cayman.
The current government failed to address the wide gaps in voter numbers, which are well out of line with international recommendations, when it rejected the Electoral Boundary Commission’s 2023 report.
It will, therefore, be up to the next government to tackle the problem, either by commissioning a new report or taking some recommendations from the 2023 report to re-shape the election map, taking into consideration the true areas of growth in voters in Bodden Town and parts of West Bay.
The last EBC did not recommend merging North Side and East End but instead focused on realigning the existing constitutional boundaries on the rest of Grand Cayman in an effort to make the seats in each district more equal. They also suggested adding a fifth seat in Bodden Town and increasing the number of MPs to 20 — though this would set up the potential for a hung parliament — and renaming the constituencies.
However, all of the recommendations were rejected, not least because the public consultation failed to attract much attention from voters or future voters, who simply did not engage with the process.
This means Cayman voters will be going to the polls in April to cast their ballots in very uneven constituencies. In addition to the significant disparity between the largest two seats (West Bay South and BTE, both with over 1,700 voters) and the smallest four constituencies, the difference between the largest seats and George Town West (1,286) or West Bay Central (1,294) is also growing.
While smaller constituencies can be better for voters in some respects, as they have better access to their MP and those MPs have an easier time keeping up their ground game, it can be easier for corrupt individuals to secure and dominate a smaller seat, given that fewer votes are needed to secure a victory.
Juliana O’Connor-Connolly
Juliana O'Connor-Connolly (CBE incumbent) is running with the PPM. She is the current premier and has been minister of education since May 2017. More was re-elected to office in 2021 with just 266 votes in Cayman Brac East but was nevertheless made premier by her colleagues. Her predecessor, Wayne Panton, got 655 votes in the last election to secure his Newlands seat in a four-way race in one of the larger constituencies.
Roy McTaggart got 645 votes in a five-way race in GTE, while Chris Saunders, initially with the PACT government before he was fired from Cabinet and joined the opposition benches, secured the most votes of all, winning Bodden Town West with 902 votes in a head to head race.
See the number of voters in each constituency below:
Check out the CNS Election Section interactive map to see who is running in each constituency.
See the list of candidates and their party affiliations here.
Category: Election News
Change writes: Every constituency has the same issue when their MP becomes a minister. It is not that they stop caring about their area, but Cabinet members have no choice but to tackle issues at national level, and that takes budget, meetings, reports, travel, conference calls, sitting with lawyers to streamline bills and laws — all […]
I encourage all voters to please get involved. Do not check out — we cannot afford it. Our children, our teenagers’ future depends not just on who, but WHAT we vote for. There are bullets we need to bite as a people, in order to effect meaningful change. Please, please, get engaged. Learn the facts, research the relevant revenues that would be affected, and ask serious questions. It is not about fixing pot holes in your street today; is about changing the school curriculum today, so that tomorrow our streets are designed by Caymanians who know what they are doing and do it with pride.
Instead, we the voters need to gather signatures asking to abolish OM/OV. We desperately need to bring back the national vote. I do not know whose brain fart that was, but I voted “NO” in that referendum because I knew it was a cluster luck in the making. All that ridiculous system does is force us to vote for the least stupid, from amongst the most mediocre who then go on to earn twice as much as people who are twice as competent. It is ludicrous! Only thing is, that I do not know who the petition would have to be addressed to. Any input?
You refer to Caymanian candidates as ” least stupid, from amongst the most mediocre”
Your comment is very bigoted,racist, and insults all Caymanians.Shame on you.
Are you suggesting that One Man One Vote caused the demise of the national vote in the Cayman Islands?
Exactly when did Cayman have a national vote.
Perhaps you meant to say that the Cayman Islands should adopt a National Vote system going forward.
banana republic…that in reality only needs around 5 mla’s…
The Adeptus Ridiculous Declares: The UPM’s Last-Ditch Power Grab – A Constitutional Farce!
Ah, the United People’s Movement (UPM)—masters of political irrelevance, grand architects of electoral failure, and now, desperate engineers of constitutional meddling! Behold, citizens, for they have returned from their four-month-long exile from actual governance with a new brilliant scheme: rewriting the Constitution to enshrine two tiny electoral districts in perpetuity!
This is not governance. This is a last-ditch, scorched-earth power grab, executed with all the finesse of an Ork engineer trying to fine-tune a plasma reactor.
What’s Happening?
The UPM, now reduced to a mere five ministers clinging to power like barnacles on a sinking ship, has cooked up a last-minute constitutional amendment to ensure that East End and North Side always have their own seats in Parliament—forever!
Now, in normal circumstances, constituency sizes adjust over time to reflect population shifts, ensuring fair and proportional representation. But fairness is not the UPM’s concern. Their real goal? Carve out two guaranteed electoral lifelines to keep their grip on power.
The reasoning?
• “Historical and cultural significance.” A vague appeal to tradition, as though history alone should dictate the future.
• “Geographical size.” Because apparently, walking across a constituency is harder than running an actual government.
• “Precedent in the Sister Islands.” Ah yes, because if one mistake exists, why not make more?
The Blatant Electoral Trickery at Play
Let’s talk numbers.
• East End and North Side have a combined total of 1,910 voters.
• That’s just a little more than ONE Bodden Town East constituency (1,765 voters).
• Meanwhile, West Bay South and Bodden Town East each have over 1,700 voters.
And yet, the UPM believes 1,910 voters deserve TWO dedicated seats, while other districts with far more people must fight for representation.
Why? Because in small districts, it takes fewer votes to win. The smaller the constituency, the easier it is to control elections through patronage, tribalism, and backroom deals.
And let’s not forget the Juliana O’Connor-Connolly precedent:
• In 2021, she was re-elected in Cayman Brac East with just 266 votes—then appointed Premier.
• Meanwhile, candidates in larger constituencies had to win 800+ votes to secure a seat.
See the problem? The UPM knows they can’t win fair elections in larger, competitive districts, so they’re locking in their strongholds.
This isn’t about representation—it’s about rigging the system in favor of political survival.
The Electoral Boundary Commission Already Warned About This
Ah, but there was already a solution to this problem—the 2023 Electoral Boundary Commission Report, which recommended adjustments to balance out constituency sizes.
Guess who rejected it?
The same UPM-led government now trying to rig the Constitution.
Instead of following expert recommendations, they buried the report, ignored the findings, and now want to bake their own political advantage into the Constitution itself.
This is not democracy. This is electoral vandalism.
The Adeptus Ridiculous’ Final Verdict: A Desperate Power Grab Disguised as Representation
This is textbook political manipulation, disguised under the noble pretense of “preserving historical identity.” But make no mistake—this is about securing permanent electoral fiefdoms.
The Adeptus Ridiculous, in all his grimdark wisdom, issues a decree:
• Constituencies should be proportionate to voter populations.
• No politician should be able to gerrymander their own safety into the Constitution.
• The UPM’s attempt to secure legacy power is an insult to democracy, logic, and even the lowliest servitor.
If this goes through, Cayman’s elections won’t just be unbalanced—they’ll be engineered to keep the same power-hungry politicians in charge forever.
But the people still have a choice. Reject this scam. Demand electoral fairness. And most importantly, don’t let a dying government rewrite the Constitution to save itself.
For if this is allowed to stand, the only thing more permanent than these seats will be Cayman’s descent into political absurdity.
Dude, can you ever once belay your verbosity and just get to the point? I like what you write, and even enjoy your lyrical twist, but you are long winded and only a few of us ever make it to the end of your missives. Consider truncating it just now and then. I think you have a lot to say, and many of us want to hear it. I think what you have to say is important. I think your message might be well more widespread without so much theatricality. JMHO. All Best.
The theatricality is this writer’s twist on things – it is what makes their writing unique and very interesting. If you want short snaps – there are comments in here giving that already.
This is driven by the development cabal who want to make sure that they continue to own the relevant politicians.
We definitely need Constitutional reform but not to enshrine easily bought politicians in the smallest districts. We also do not need more politicians at the trough. What we need is for at least 2/3 of our MPs to be elected in a national vote with 5 or 6 MPs elected to represent the issues of all existing districts.
In this case bought and paid for by Jamaicans trying to turn Cayman into their homeland which they ruined, and had to leave.
I suppose one argument against merging EE with NS is the fact that if you merged Jay with Isaac you still wouldn’t have one single brain cell.