St James West Central was created in 1976 when the number of constituencies for the parish was increased from three to four.
The constituency boundaries were redrawn and three new constituencies were names: St James East Central, St James West Central and St James Southern, to go along with St James North Western.
The constituency of St. James West Central is bounded by the following: From where the northern boundary of Eden Estate meets the Great River, thence easterly along this boundary to the western boundary of Wiltshire Estate. It then goes north-easterly along the southern boundary of Wiltshire Estate to the northern boundary of the Anchovy Bottom Estate and north easterly along this boundary to a track. From there it goes south-easterly along this track to where it meets parochial road No 29, Montpelier, northerly along this road to where it meets parochial road No 27, Montpelier.
From there, it travels south easterly along parochial road No 27, Montpelier, to where it meets parochial road No 16 at Turtle Pond, then to Wales Pond, then to parochial road No 10, Montpelier. It then goes south easterly along parochial road No 10, Montpelier, to the northern boundary of Concordia, then easterly to parochial road No 35, Springfield, and northerly along this parochial road to where it meets parochial road No 15. From there, it travels southerly along this parochial road to the southern boundary of Retirement, easterly along this boundary and then northerly along the eastern boundary to parochial road No 21 Springfield. It then travels westerly along this road to the John’s Hall main road, north-westerly along this main road to where it meets parochial road No 24, St James, northerly along this road to where it meets Adelphi main road, easterly along this main road to where it meets Timber Road, and north-easterly along Timber Road to where it meets parochial road No 4, Marley, at the northern boundary of Kirkpatrick Hall then northerly along parochial road No 4 Marley through Leogan, Moreland and Blue Hole to parochial road No 34, Rose Hall.
It then goes northerly along this road to the northern boundary of Flower Hill, south-easterly along this boundary to where it meets Flower Hill Avenue (parochial road No 13B), westerly along this main road to a track leading to Hartfield Property opposite the Salt Spring School, then northerly along this track to where it meets Parochial Road No 10, St James. From there it goes south-westerly along this parochial road to where it meets the Green Pond main road, easterly along this road to the eastern boundary of Farm Pen, southerly along the eastern boundary of Farm Pen to the northern boundary of Catherine Hall Pen, westerly along the northern boundary of Catherine Hall Pen to the Eastern Montego Bay boundary, south-easterly along this boundary and then westerly in an imaginary line to Clarke Street, along Clarke Street to the Mount Salem main road, westerly along this main road to Cottage Road, along Cottage Road to Barnett Street, along Barnett Street to Fustic Road, along Fustic Road to the Railway Line, along the Railway Line to the Barnett River, along the Barnett River to the sea. It then goes southerly and westerly along the sea coast to where the Great River enters the sea then south-easterly along the Great River to the starting point.
Of the eight contested elections to date, the People’s National Party (PNP) holds a five-three majority. The party won the first election in the constituency in 1976, as Francis Tulloch defeated the JLP’s Winston Watt 6,708 votes to 3,725. The JLP took the seat in 1980 through Carl Rhoden, who beat Clive Dobson 7,884 to 5,285, and retained it in the uncontested 1983 polls. The PNP reclaimed the seat via Patrick Rose-Green in 1989, beating Watt 7,651 to 5,165, and held on to it until the 2002 polls.
The 1997 election was especially close. The PNP’s Arthur Nelson had to fight off a strong challenge from then-Mayor Gilchrist in the ‘battle of the Arthurs’ for the candidacy. The voters’ list increased by 6,014 (39.5 per cent) over the 1993 list. With such a significant increase in registered voters, a PNP victory was not on the books among many pundits, but Nelson proved them wrong as he polled 5,873 votes to defeat the JLP’s Anthony Lewin by 627.
In the 2002 polls, the JLP’s Clive Mullings defeated Hugh Solomon 7,098 votes to 5,980, and retained the constituency in 2007, polling 7,752 to 7,216 against Tulloch. The PNP ended its two-year stint in opposition in 2011, as Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams defeated Mullings 6,208 to 5,535.
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