The incumbent Derrick Smith was first elected to Parliament from the
Saint Andrew North Western constituency during the
1989 general election, representing the
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). He lost the seat in the next
1993 general election to Jepthah Ford of the
People's National Party (PNP). However, Smith regained the seat in the subsequent
1997 general election, holding it until his retirement from active politics on January 15, 2018.[2] On February 4, 2018, Prime Minister
Andrew Holness declared the seat vacant and announced the date of the by-election as March 5, 2018 with Nomination day set for February 12, 2018.[3] The by-election was contested by
Nigel Clarke of the JLP and Keisha Hayle of the PNP. Clarke won 60.7% of the vote, compared with the 38.3% garnered by Hayle, with 1% of ballots rejected. Only 24.3% of eligible voters cast their vote, down from 40.9% in the
2016 election.[4][5]