Three gov’t female lawmakers denounce Burchell’s remarks about Speaker Holness

Three government female parliamentarians have condemned recent remarks made by People’s National Party representative Nekeisha Burchell about House Speaker Juliet Holness, describing the comments as inappropriate, disrespectful and damaging to women in leadership.

Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, Finance Minister Fayval Williams, and Member of Parliament Juliet Cuthbert Flynn criticised comments made by Burchell during an episode of The Fix podcast in which she accused the House Speaker of displaying controlling tendencies while enforcing the Standing Orders of Parliament.

 “The Speaker is she likes to be in control. And I mean that kind of control that perhaps you can get away with in a marriage if you want to control your husband, for example,” said Burchell, the Member of Parliament for St James Southern. 

Burchell argued that elected representatives could not be treated “like children in a basic school” and suggested there was a difference between maintaining order and exerting control in Parliament.

Responding to the remarks, Johnson Smith said she was shocked that such comments were being made by a female parliamentarian in 2026.

“What a retrogressive statement and state of mind,” said Johnson Smith, who is also the foreign affairs minister, in a joint statement issued Tuesday. She argued that women in leadership continued to face challenges despite Jamaica’s progress in advancing women in public office.

Johnson Smith described Holness, who is the MP for St Andrew East Rural and wife of Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, as “an exemplary role model and an inspiration to countless girls who aspire to be strong leaders”.

Williams, the Member of Parliament for East Central St Andrew, said the remarks should concern all Jamaicans and not only women.

“Her move to liken the Speaker’s efforts to maintain order in the House of Representatives to controlling a husband in a marriage is unrefined, inappropriate, disrespectful, and downright low,” Williams said.

Cuthbert Flynn, the Member of Parliament for West Rural St Andrew, also rebuked Burchell, saying women who assert themselves in leadership should not automatically be portrayed as controlling or bullying figures.

“You were just wrong and totally out of line by suggesting Mrs Holness is behaving similarly to a woman controlling her household,” said Cuthbert Flynn, who is a junior minister in the national security ministry. 

She further argued that Burchell had understood the parliamentary procedures surrounding the use of patois in the House and accused her of deliberately creating confrontation with the Speaker.

The controversy emerged amid wider debate over the enforcement of parliamentary rules and decorum in the House of Representatives.

The Opposition did not support Holness’ re-election as speaker in the new Parliament following the last general election in September 2025, claiming that she has been unfair in her leadership of the House. 

Government members have rejected that assertion.