JLP & PNP Hail Late MP Princess Lawes

Both major political parties have hailed the late Princess Lawes, former Member of Parliament for St. Ann North Western for breaking barriers in women’s representation in her career in and outside of politics.

Lawes passed away at home in Kingston last Friday. She was 79 years old. 

Princess Lawes grew up in Mandeville, Manchester.

She studied at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, in the United States. She returned to Jamaica in 1974. Soon after, she entered local political scene.

Between 1976 and 1989, she served in public life as a Member of Parliament, a Junior Minister, and a Member of the Senate. 

Lawes won the North West St. Ann seat for the JLP following the party’s massive October 1980 election win. She held the seat for the JLP for nine years, until she was replaced in 1989 by Ernest Smith. 

In the government, she was in charge of women’s affairs, children’s services, and friendly societies. 

She then went to work full-time for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, where she spent 26 years. 

Writing on X on Saturday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Lawes’ passing marks the end of an era, not only for the Jamaica Union Conference but for our nation as a whole.

And the Opposition PNP, hailed Lawes as the first JLP member to secure victory in the North West St. Ann constituency.