Damion Crawford

Crawford was born in Haddo, Westmoreland Parish.^[1] Crawford attended Kingston College and the University of the West Indies, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in tourism management.^[2] While completing his master's degree, Crawford served as president of the university's Guild of Students.^[3]

Crawford was elected a member of parliament representing Saint Andrew East Rural in December 2011.^[4][5] He served concurrently as Jamaica's minister of state for tourism and entertainment.^[6][7] Crawford announced in 2015 that he would not run for reelection to the House of Representatives, but later said that his retirement was a "trick."^[8] In October 2015, Crawford lost an indicative election held by the People's National Party to Peter Blake.^[9][10] Blake secured 218 delegate votes, while Crawford finished with 166.^[11] Following his loss, Crawford was appointed to the Senate of Jamaica on 23 October 2017,^[12] where he served alongside an uncle, Ransford Braham.^[13] In September 2018, Crawford, Mikael Phillips, and Phillip Paulwell were named vice presidents of the People's National Party.^[14] In February 2019, the People's National Party nominated Crawford to contest a by-election in Portland Eastern.^[15][16] He resigned from the senate in March to focus on his campaign.^[17] Crawford lost the Portland Eastern seat to Ann-Marie Vaz,^[18][19] and was reappointed to the senate.^[20][21]