'Pip Pip' Harry crashes

Published in the Jamaica Gleaner : Thursday | September 6, 2007

Harry Douglas, the politician who some St. Mary residents have alleged honks the horn of his SUV more often than he represents them, has been driven into the political wilderness by the voters in South East, St. Mary.

He was popularly called 'Pip Pip', an indication that he did not even give a full blast of the horn whenever he drove through the constituency.

Electoral Office of Jamaica recount results yesterday indicated that the veteran politician lost by 34 votes to the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Tarn Peralto.

The defeat is an almost final curtain call for the 64-year-old Mr. Douglas as far as representational politics is concerned.

Mr. Peralto had lost by 365 votes to Mr. Douglas in the 2002 elections. Yesterday's official recount of Monday's poll showed that Mr. Peralto polled 6,959 votes to Mr. Douglas' 6,925.

The preliminary count after Monday's general election showed Mr. Douglas with a majority of 46 votes.

It means that the JLP has increased its seat count to 33 while the People's National Party's count has dropped by one to 27.

Fifth straight win

Mr. Douglas was seeking an unprecedented fifth straight win in the St. Mary South East seat, which he held for the past 18 years.

He became a Member of Parliament in 1989 when he won under the leadership of the late PNP president and former Prime Minister, Michael Manley.

Mr. Douglas was appointed State Minister for Local Government and Environment in 2002 under the administration of former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.

In an interview with The Gleaner last year, Mr. Douglas, who had previously announced his intention to leave representational politics, said the 2007 elections would have been his last.

"It has to be my last shot. Old father time has taken its toll. Like an old solder, I just will have to fade away," Mr. Douglas said then.