In 1953 the first airfield in
the Cayman Islands was opened as
well as the George Town Public
hospital. Barclays ushered in
the age of formalized commerce
by opening the first commercial
bank. Following a two year
campaign by women to change
their circumstances, in 1959
Cayman received its first
written constitution which, for
the first time, allowed women to
vote. Cayman ceased to be a
dependency of Jamaica. During
1966, legislation was passed to
enable and encourage the banking
industry in Cayman. In 1971 the
governmental structure of the
Islands was again changed with a
Governor now running the Cayman
Islands. Athel Long CMG, CBE was
the last Administrator and the
first Governor of the Cayman
Islands. In 1991 a review of the
1972 constitution recommended
several constitutional changes
to be debated by the Legislative
Assembly. The post of Chief
Secretary was reinstated in 1992
after having been abolished in
1986. The establishment of the
post of Chief Minister was also
proposed. However, in November
1992 elections were held for an
enlarged Legislative Assembly
and the Government was soundly
defeated, casting doubt on
constitutional reform. The
"National Team" of government
critics won 12 (later reduced to
11) of the 15 seats, and
independents won the other
three, after a campaign opposing
the appointment of Chief
Minister and advocating spending
cuts. The unofficial leader of
the team, Thomas Jefferson, had
been the appointed Financial
Secretary until March 1992, when
he resigned over public spending
disputes to fight the election.
After the elections, Mr.
Jefferson was appointed Minister
and leader of government
business; he also held the
portfolios of Tourism, Aviation
and Commerce in the Executive
Council. Three teams with a
total of 44 candidates contested
the general election held on
November 20, 1996: the governing
National Team, Team Cayman and
the Democratic Alliance Group.
The National Team was returned
to office but with a reduced
majority, winning 9 seats. The
Democratic Alliance won 2 seats
in George Town, Team Cayman won
one in Bodden Town and
independents won seats in George
Town, Cayman Brac and Little
Cayman. Although all
administrative links with
Jamaica were broken in 1962, the
Cayman Islands and Jamaica
continue to share many links and
experiences, including
membership in the Commonwealth
of Nations (and Commonwealth
citizenship) and a common united
church (the United Church in
Jamaica and the Cayman Islands)
and Anglican diocese (although
there is debate about this) as
well as a common currency (until
1972). Also, by 1999, 38-40% of
the population of the Cayman
Islands was of Jamaican origin
and in 2004/2005 little over 50%
of the expatriates working in
the Cayman Islands (i.e. 8,000)
were Jamaicans (with the next
largest expatriate communities
coming from the United States,
United Kingdom and Canada).
