Do we like them?

Do we like Andrew Holness?

Our score: 5 out of 10. A real climate voice and no sustained campaign against any group, but one contested gender remark and integrity questions that have never quite gone away.

Holness leads the Jamaica Labour Party, and in September 2025 it won him a third straight term as prime minister in an election Al Jazeera called fractious. The year that followed was dominated by Hurricane Melissa, which gave him a world stage on climate. We couldn't open a good profile of his upbringing, so this card sticks to the record we could read.

The integrity questions go back a way. In 2023 the Integrity Commission raised a conflict-of-interest allegation over contracts awarded to Westcon Construction while he was education minister. The Director of Corruption Prosecution declined to lay charges, saying “no criminal charges can be laid”. Holness denied ever exercising influence over the award of contracts.

Then came a 179-page Integrity Commission report in September 2024. It recommended that the Financial Investigation Division and the tax authority examine aspects of his finances. Its investigator raised four undeclared bank accounts, and the prosecutor found there wasn't enough evidence to charge. Holness strongly rejected the findings, said he has complied with the law, and called for the commission's law to be revised. His team took the matter to judicial review, and in August 2025 the case was stayed pending an appeal over disclosure.

In June 2026 the Commission recommended four criminal charges against Cabinet minister Andrew Wheatley, including illicit enrichment. Wheatley rejected the findings. Holness said Wheatley retains his confidence because no charge has yet been preferred. Whether that is fair patience or a bad look depends on how you weigh a watchdog's recommendation against due process. In July he also copped flak over a World Cup final trip, saying he paid for himself.

On the harm test, there's one flashpoint. In the March 2026 budget debate he said “A man is a man and a woman is a woman.” Equality for All Foundation Jamaica and TransWave Jamaica said that kind of language risks stigma for trans and gender-diverse Jamaicans, while others praised it. Back in 2015 he promised voters a referendum on the Buggery Act, and the pages we read show none held. We found no sustained campaign against any group, and on the planet he's been firmly on the right side.

On climate he told the G20 in November 2025 that “The world must adhere to the 1.5-degree target.” He also asked for more climate finance and restated Jamaica's goal of at least 50 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. After the hurricane he spoke at the reopening of Black River Hospital, where he said over $300 million had gone to repairs. The record of kindness to individuals, or of standing up at a cost to himself, is thin in what we could read.