Parties dominate as 59 candidates declare for 2025 general election

Cayman’s three political parties put on a show of strength and unity on nomination day as a total of 59 candidates inked their names in for the 2025 general election, set for 30 April.

Travelling around Grand Cayman together in team buses and matching shirts with a coterie of supporters in tow, all three groups sent a clear signal that the era of independents is coming to a close.

By the time the curtain fell at 3pm, the PPM had 13 candidates declared, the Cayman Islands National Party had 12 and The Caymanian Community Party had 10. That’s a stark contrast from four years ago when only eight candidates out of 50 ran with any official party affiliation.

There are still some big name independents in the mix, however, including incumbents like McKeeva Bush, Jay Ebanks and Chris Saunders.

The Compass had reporters at every nomination centre across Grand Cayman and the Brac.

Among the key takeaways at the end of the day were:

• Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly confirmed her return to the PPM, saying she is answering the call of her people.
• CINP leader Dan Scott says he is ready for the challenge and that Cayman needs meaningful change.
• Independent Chris Saunders confirms that, if elected, he will only work with PPM to form a government.
• TCCP leader André Ebanks won’t go unopposed in West Bay South as former Radio Cayman host Sterling Ebanks runs in that seat as an independent.
• PPM leader Joey Hew also has a live race in George Town North with Romellia Welcome contesting as an independent.
• Former Television presenter Donna Bush will contest the Savannah constituency for the PPM, taking on Heather Bodden of the TCCP.
• East End is a five-way battle for incumbent Isaac Rankine who is running as an independent.

Prospective MPs had from between 8am and 3pm to register for the election, a process that requires them to turn up at the polling station with two nominators from their constituency’s pool of registered voters, and pay their $1,000 deposit.

The parties travelled in groups, taking the opportunity to kickstart their campaigns.

Hew issued a rallying speech to his team before the PPM bus left John Gray High School, heading first to North Side to nominate Justin Ebanks and then sweeping westward. The final stop, though, was in George Town, where the party has held sway in the last few elections. The Progressives have no candidates in West Bay.

The Caymanian Community Party bus started its route in Bodden Town. Veteran former legislator and academic Roy Bodden led a large contingent in prayer before the nomination of their four candidates in that district.

The biggest crowd, for the TCCP was in West Bay where turquoise-shirted supporters swarmed the polling station as Katherine Ebanks-Wilks and leader André Ebanks confirmed their nominations.

For the Cayman Islands National Party, Dan Scott and Nickolas DaCosta arrived early, sporting polo shirts with the freshly embossed insignia of the new party, at the nomination centre on the Brac.

There was a large gathering, too, for the new party in George Town where Gary Rutty, Craig Merren, Carmen McField and Bud Johnson filed into the John Gray High School nomination centre to cries of “time for real change”.

Former EY partner Scott’s battle against O’Connor-Connolly in Cayman Brac East – a race that includes five candidates in total – could be one that defines the election.

O’Connor-Connolly: ‘I could not turn my back on the people’

O’Connor-Connolly, speaking to Compass reporter Norma Connolly at the Aston Rutty Centre on Cayman Brac, said that after more than 30 years in politics, she had fully intended to retire, but after returning from the CARICOM leaders meeting in Barbados last week, she had been inundated with calls to run again.

“It was a very difficult decision, because I am a woman of integrity … I didn’t want the country to think that I said something and was doing something else. But when I balanced it, I said I could not turn my back on the people.

“So it’s all up to them. I make myself available. If it’s their wish to return me, I’ll be more than happy; if it’s not, then I’ll still be able to retire. So what’s there to lose? So I stand on the side of the people.”

The premier added that she had already started to move her bedroom furniture from her apartment on Grand Cayman back to the Brac when, after “much soul searching”, she decided to run again.

“I’m very grateful to be with the PPM; they’ve asked me, and I’ve accepted, and my people are happy with that.”

Acknowledging that with Hew as the new PPM leader, and Kenneth Bryan as his deputy, it was unlikely she would be repeating her stint as premier and had not negotiated any ministerial position, she said, “I leave my ego at the door.”

Scott: ‘We really need change’

Scott, who arrived in a school bus with his Sister Islands running mate Nickolas DaCosta and a group of supporters, told the Compass he was “feeling good, excited, and indeed delighted with the confidence shown in me by these stalwarts from Cayman Brac.”

He added, “We have too many things that our folks are challenged with, whether it is not being able to get jobs, challenges around housing, cost of living, education, the environment. I could go on … We really do need change.”

Commenting on why he feels a party approach to politics is needed, Scott said, “You need a plan, that people are working together, people coming together with shared values, such as us with shared values around honesty, integrity, energy to lead, to drive forward, and commitment.

“Those things need to come together on a common platform, as opposed to where I think we’ve seen in the recent times, where we have a group of independents who have individual agendas and not working in a very cohesive and cooperative manner.”

Alliances and rivalries take shape

By and large the day shaped up as anticipated, with the fresh alliances and brewing rivalries thrashed out over the last month on full display.

Erstwhile political opponents Alden McLaughlin – the chair of the Progressives who will not contest his Red Bay seat – and Kenneth Bryan, the party’s new deputy leader, posed with their arms around each other’s shoulders, confirming the truce that led Bryan back to the party.

Bryan, who has held the George Town Central seat since 2017, told the Compass his motivation was “for the love of country”.

Back in the PPM fold, he said it had initially felt “a bit weird,” but that he’d found the party platform of “maturity” and “stability” a draw.

“I’m so happy that under the new leader, you see a fresh approach – the Progressives today is not the Progressives of 2013 when I joined them, and I’m not the same candidate I was back in 2013 and I think it was a perfect timing for us to join hands together, because the people want unity. They want stability. You don’t want to wake up the next morning wondering if your government is going to fall,” Bryan told Compass reporter Sarah Bridge.

Independent Saunders: ‘I will only work with PPM’

Saunders renewed his attack on Scott and his nascent political movement.

Though he had been in discussions to establish his own party, Saunders arrived in an open-necked shirt and black suit jacket to register as an independent.

He told Compass reporter Seaford Russell Jr. that the PPM were the only party he would consider working with to help form a government after the election.

“Of the three organised groups, the only one with a social conscience in this election is the PPM,” he claimed.

TCCP hits out at ‘special interests’

Wayne Panton, who held the premiership after the dust settled on the last election, will run in Newlands again, against Alva Suckoo and Raul Gonzales Jr.

As he signed his nomination papers, he defended his record as premier, particularly reopening the country after COVID-19.

He hit out against “special interests” when asked if Cayman could trust him after the last four years.

Panton is one of the key figures in the TCCP, led by André Ebanks, the former deputy premier.

In a later interview, with the Compass’ Simon Boxall in West Bay, Ebanks said the party would put the country’s wider interest over “self and special interest”.

He said he was excited to lead a team that was community-centred and grassroots driven.

Buoyed by a large crowd of supporters at the nomination centre, he added, “I feel proud to be leading this party – our priorities are cost of living, education and workforce development, immigration reform, housing and returning the country to good governance.”

No ‘free pass’ for Joey Hew

The chance of a free pass back into office for PPM leader Hew – something that had seemed possible at the start of the day – disappeared with the arrival of Romellia Welcome, running as an independent.

She told Compass reporter Sarah Bridge that people needed change after years of “promises, promises and nothing done”.

Asked if she thought Hew, who has held the seat for 12 years, would be a tough opponent, she said, “He has dropped the ball … The care isn’t there, the love isn’t there.”

Hew, who arrived to register later in the day, said the PPM offered the best mix of experience and fresh blood to get the best results for Cayman.

He said a party structure and a team mentality were needed.

“It’s just being unified as a team, that’s what it is, having a common goal, having a proper manifesto that when we get in, we can hand out to the civil service, and they can create their action points based on the manifesto.”

Former Olympian Merren rides again in George Town

Two new candidates, who have established themselves in their districts over the past year, businessman Gary Rutty and former Olympic cyclist Craig Merren, of the Cayman Islands National Party, told reporters they hope to bring a new approach to politics.

Merren said, “I’m a seventh generational Cayman, and this is not the Cayman that my great great grandparents wanted. We’ve gone too far ahead with progress. Progress for who?

“A lot of Caymanians feel alienated today.”

Rutty, a former hotelier and fast-food restauranteur, said the group may not have parliamentary experience but they had shown a record of success in other areas.

“I’ve got a proven track record of always being involved with community. I’ve also been a successful businessman, I’m a successful father and a good husband and a family man, and I feel that I can bring a lot of those values to my community.”

Rutty will face Craig ‘Festa’ Frederick for the PPM and independent Alric Lindsay, who polled well in the same race four years ago, for the George Town South seat.

McKeeva Bush outlines new high school priority

McKeeva Bush is set for a two-horse race with Julie Hunter, of the Cayman Islands National Party, in West Bay West.

Bush told Compass reporter Simon Boxall that cost-of-living and housing were significant challenges for the next administration to address, along with traffic to the eastern districts.

While not officially aligned with any one party or group, he said he works well with his current government colleagues Jay Ebanks, Seymour, O’Connor-Connolly, and Bryan, as well as Saunders and his former United Democratic Party colleague Rolston Anglin, who is challenging for the West Bay North seat.

Bush would like to expand the Sir John A. Cumber Primary School and would like to start planning ahead for a high school in West Bay given the growth of the district.

He said he remains “pro business” and wants to reduce what he calls the “us and them” mentality which is unhelpful and undermining Cayman.

Dashes of drama

Meanwhile, a minor controversy was averted at the West Bay polling station, Sir John A. Cumber Primary School, where election officials had to remove the school mascot – a bumble bee. Prior to his alignment with the Progressives, Bryan had been campaigning using a similar bee logo and branding.

Elsewhere, three of the candidates for the Sister Islands had to return to the polling station when they didn’t have all their paperwork with them.

And an 11^th hour attempt to register in George Town West was thwarted when one unsuccessful hopeful turned up with only one nominator.

James Whittaker authored this report, with contributions from Compass Media staff across Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman.