Finance Minister Roy McTaggart to take over PPM leadership

“Discussions are happening of course nothing is final until the conference is held”

Response on Friday from PPM Minister vying for the leadership role

(CMR) Premier Alden McLaughlin announced today that finance minister, Roy McTaggart, will be the next leader of the PPM. He confirmed what many had speculated about for the past several weeks. This announcement was made despite others in the party telling CMR that the decision would not be made until the party's political conference to be held at a later date.

Rumors had been in wide circulations for months that Ministers Joseph Hew (GTS), Tara Rivers (WBS) and Moses Kirkconnell (CBW) were all in the runnings for the position and had expressed some interest in the party leadership. However, lately, there had been additional marl road rumors that Kirkconnell might be taking an unexpected step back from the political arena to focus on family matters.

On Friday morning we inquired of another PPM minister who was said to be in the running and he specifically said the decision would not be made at this time. This was after we had heard the rumor last week Wednesday that the decision was finalized. However, Premier Alden McLaughlin confirmed the rumors today and that he would be running for election again in Red Bay.

McLaughlin appeared to be starting the 2021 election campaign early when he stated that the country needed to re-elected the PPM to power and dismissed the opposition as a “mismatched group of individuals” looking for political opportunities.

Making it clear why he selected McTaggart he noted that he was an experienced man and the country would be fortunate to have him in this leadership role at this time. He congratulated him for how he had handled the countries affairs during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

McLaughlin also found time to criticize anyone else who might be considering a bid for public office and noted that they were blocking to the talk shows and social media but presented no real solutions for the country.

The Honourable Minister McTaggart, Geroge Town East, is a former chairman of the Board of Cayman Airways and was a managing director of the accounting firm, KPMG. He has been an active member of the community for many years serving in many capacities including as president of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce. He is serving his second term as an elected official and his first as a minister.

There is no doubt that the 2021 election will be competitive with the 1997 one which saw some 64 candidates vhying for the 19 available seats.