People’s National Party (PNP) president Mark Golding has not given Lisa Hanna a position in his revamped Shadow Cabinet, and she will now remain on the sidelines, no doubt comforting herself in her Jamaica Observer weekly column.

Her many fans are irked by this omission and have been vocal in declaring that the PNP will pay the price for its lack of vision with another round of internecine in-fighting set to break out.

This will all calm down over the next seven days and Lisa Hanna will continue to being the social media darling that she is. She will have more time to showcase her well coiffed hair and stylish attire on Instagram.

The thirst traps will ensnare many. 

Golding may very well be thinking that after seeing off Hanna in a leadership race in 2020, two years into his tenure no one would bet on him toppling a triumphant JLP come the subsequent general election.

Today, the PNP has gained ground and its momentum continues to gather.

The party has come off the campus and is scoring points with its jabs.

This took place without Lisa Hanna’s fervent commitment to the cause. Golding tried to broker a peace of sorts, be conciliatory and inclusive. He has to push on and has resigned himself to do so with no meaningful contribution from her.

In life, in business and in politics you want a team that has your back. You want to be able to count on full and unbridled support. 

Say want you want about Dr Dayton Cambell but his fervour, his support and desire to return the PNP to power cannot be questioned. He is totally behind his leader.

“Lisa was fed up. Lisa is a celebrity. She was a former Miss World, she has been very active on social media with a large following and she is a dynamic personality. Clearly we would want her her to be active in politics on our side. Unfortunately she has had some challenges in her constituency which are not new. This has been going on for a long time and we have tried to resolve them. The situation has not resolved itself there. She took the decision she was not going to run again, next time around, “ said Golding back in September 2022

Those words rang true then as they do today.

Mark Golding has to find an answer to Lyndon B. Johnson’s conundrum here: “Better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.” 

Why would he bank on someone with Hanna’s attitude? Why would he reward such a person with one of the major offices of state whose support is tepid and reticent at best?

If she wants time to work on personal issues she now has that time but she must make it clear to all that she was in no position to serve in a Shadow Cabinet position.

Be magnanimous and gracious, it may hold you in good stead in later years.

Golding’s popularity has risen, so too has the PNP’s. He has got the tiger by the tail and like Wellington at Waterloo is in a good position to do battle with a foreboding foe provided he has the right allies.

If Hanna was vastly popular and unassailable in South East, St Ann and it was acknowledged as her citadel, she would have a stronger hand to play but she doesn’t. She haas to bank on Golding being routed at the next General Election and the party turn to her to be rescued. That’s a long shot now.

All those “ likes” on social media Hanna must turn into votes for her party. She must demonstrate that she can comfortably win and hold a seat – like her mentor Portia Simpson Miller. Politics is about winning.

Dr Angela Brown Burke is a PNP loyalist and a very astute political operator. It is fitting and certainly ironic that she is now the shadow spokesperson on foreign affairs having served her dues.

Loyalty and steadfastness should always be rewarded.

Bobby Montague, Dr Horace Chang, Andrew Holness, Delroy Chuck, Tom Tavares Finson spent years in the political wilderness but always remained “green”. The pendulum swung in their favour and they waited for it to do so. They didn’t throw their toys out of the pram and storm off in a huff. They didn’t abandon the party when it was in the doldrums. They didn’t join another camp. They remained true.

This Shadow Cabinet is well balanced and brings in new personnel to sit beside those with experience. Golding did a good job here. It is notable that it consists of ten women.

If Hanna had played her cards right, she could have been the darling of that coterie.

Those with political smarts within the PNP will see that it is in their best interests to get fully behind Mark Golding. The last thing the PNP needs is another leadership battle before a general election. It has seen too many of them in recent times and it has cost it heavily with the electorate. A divided camp is destined to failure. Golding has proved a balm to inflicted wounds and has illuminated the fog of war.

Lisa Hanna may may stage a return from Elba only to end up in St Helena to spend years ruminating on what might have been.

If Lisa Hanna had demonstrated she was fully behind Golding’s leadership and her every nerve and sinew was dedicated to getting the PNP under his stewardship over the line, she would have been given the opportunity to have her place in the sun.

Character is destiny. She probably would have ended up as Jamaica’s second female prime minister, enjoying national popularity. At 48, she had time and could become even more seasoned as a senior Cabinet member in her early fifties before taking on the top job after a few years.

As it stands, the PNP will credit Golding for taking it closer to the winner’s podium where it has resided many times. Hanna will be on the outside looking in.

Golding is non-offensive, calm, intelligent, hasn’t put a foot wrong. He is looking more attractive.

Hanna must know how to translate popularity into political capital. She must be a better proponent of the art of politics.