Jamaica’s surprise Commonwealth announcement leads to speculation over possible royal intervention

Only last month, Jamaica’s prime minister used a visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to announce that his country would be “moving on” and removing the Queen as head of state.

The comments by Andrew Holness about “unresolved” issues between Jamaica and the UK were so forthright that they raised questions about whether the former colony would also leave the Commonwealth.

In an unexpected twist, however, the country has now announced it is putting forward its foreign minister to stand for election as the next Commonwealth Secretary-General.

To add further intrigue, the minister in question, Kamina Johnson-Smith, was one of the dignitaries who met the Duke and Duchess during their official tour, raising questions about exactly what they discussed.

By convention, the current Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, would be standing unopposed as the organisation has never challenged an incumbent seeking a second four-year term.

However, rumours have swirled for years that the Government wants to oust the Labour peer, who has been embroiled in a series of controversies since taking office in 2016.

Delano Franklyn, a former foreign minister of Jamaica, has suggested that the Duke of Cambridge might have been used as a backchannel by the Government to encourage Ms Johnson-Smith to stand.

The UK currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Commonwealth, and Mr Franklyn said: “As chairman of the Commonwealth, Boris Johnson is doing everything to ensure that he has a secretary-general of the Commonwealth who will fall in line with the thinking of British Conservative politics.”

Lady Scotland, a former attorney general, has been accused of spending almost £30,000 redecorating her grace and favour apartment in Mayfair, as well as allegations that she offered a contract to another Labour peer by circumventing the normal tendering process. She denied wrongdoing in both cases.

In 2020, Britain suspended its £4.7 million annual contribution to the Commonwealth Secretariat because of concerns over its financial procedures, whilst Australia withdrew funding because of concerns over Lady Scotland’s governance.

Friends of Lady Scotland believe that the Foreign Office is plotting to remove her, and a bid by Monica Juma, Kenya’s energy secretary, to replace her was widely thought to have unofficial British backing. She withdrew her candidacy in February after failing to secure support from Caribbean member countries, leaving the way open for a fresh challenger.

Those who want to replace Lady Scotland can also argue that she has already served one-and-a-half terms, as the Commonwealth heads of government meeting that was scheduled for 2020 has still not happened because of Covid.

Replacing the Dominican-born Lady Scotland with a Jamaican head could also have the advantage, for the Foreign Office, of keeping Jamaica within the Commonwealth fold.

Mr Holness has made encouraging noises about Jamaica’s future in the Commonwealth if his candidate is chosen, saying: “She will bring a wealth of experience to the position and is committed to international public service.”

Ms Johnson-Smith, meanwhile, has said it would be “an absolute privilege to serve this great family of nations”.

Her candidacy has not been universally welcomed in the Caribbean. Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, has described it as a “monumental error”, pointing out that Jamaica was party to a recent agreement among Caribbean nations to endorse the re-election of Lady Scotland.

He said that the proposal would “divide the Caribbean” and would make it more likely that another candidate from outside the region would emerge the winner.

A sub-group of countries – comprising Jamaica, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, and St Vincent and the Grenadines – will now interview the two candidates in an attempt to agree which of them will get the support of the 15 Caribbean members of the Commonwealth.

The news came as Kensington Palace announced that the Duke of Cambridge will stand in for the Queen to lay a wreath at this year’s Anzac Day ceremony at the Cenotaph.

The Duke will also remember Australians and New Zealanders who lost their lives in conflict by attending a service of thanksgiving in Westminster Abbey.

The two events fall on April 25, and will follow a dawn service at Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, which will be attended by the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin.