Controversial Cabinet minister Everald Warmington has resigned from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with immediate effect.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a statement on Thursday evening (February 29), disclosed that he accepted Warmington’s resignation after a meeting earlier today.

He thanked Holness “for the opportunity to serve” as the prime minister reciprocated in lauding Warmington for “his service in [the] capacity” of minister without portfolio with responsibility for Works.

Warmington’s exit marks a crescendo in days of public outrage as Jamaicans criticised the firebrand politician for tribalist comments, voter intimidation and abuse of power in a now-viral social media video.

In the clip, Warmington, seemingly smarting from incumbent Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor Lloyd Grant’s defeat in the Old Harbour South Division, vowed to withhold “his money” from duly elected political opponents.

A barb directed at People’s National Party (PNP) councillor-elect Kurt Waul, who staged an upset in the Local Government Elections, Warmington openly flirted with manipulating government resources on a political agenda, all while his constituents cheered him on.

“Me in charge right now, I am the minister of works and the Member of Parliament, no PNP councillor going to spend my money,” Warmington said.

He went on to lambast ‘traitors’ who turned on Grant and warned they had ‘nowhere to go’ and would not be welcomed to return to the party.

Calls for Warmington’s resignation grew louder last night when Prime Minister Andrew Holness released a statement on X.com, formerly Twitter.

In the clarification, which was quickly deleted after triggering accusations of ‘government gaslighting’ amid intense social media backlash, Warmington insisted his comments were “misunderstood” and seemingly taken out of context.

“I realise that my statements on funding for members of parliament and councillors have been misunderstood in public discourse. It was never my intention to imply that duly elected councillors should be denied rightful funding for their municipal division. I want to clarify: my remarks were focused on the established practice that MPs direct funds for constituencies, while councillors direct funds from the municipal council. These are distinct and separate,” he explained.

The outspoken Warmington is just the second political casualty to rock Jamaica today, as Opposition Leader Mark Golding stripped the MP-caretaker ticket from Dennis Meadows.

Meadows also found himself neck-deep in controversy for comments glorifying lottery scamming in another viral video from the Northern Trelawny constituency earlier this week.

Even after withdrawing the ‘reparation rhetoric’ and a public apology, the former JLP senator, whom the PNP announced in November 2023 would challenge Tova Hamilton at the next general election, will have longer to wait after hitting a major hurdle at the local government stage.