By Robert Andre Emmanuel
Balancing being a full-time mother and raising a young daughter while running a business is never easy, but when political activism and spending time with members of your community is added to the mix, an extra layer of responsibility and hard work exists.
The United Progressive Party’s (UPP’s) caretaker for St John’s Rural South may have only been in politics for a few years, but she has taken to it like an egret to Woods Pond.
Earlier this week, Observer media spent some time observing her as she went about interacting with her community and people.
During our conversation, it became clear that Potter’s ambition to help others had been instilled in her core ever since she was a young girl.
“Helping others to be their best self has always been my passion; whether it is a young mother with three boys, my two niece and three nephews, I was always surrounded with children (their friends included).
“I started to pay closer attention to our system of government and how it affected our children, our elders, our middle-aged and our immigrants.
“My children were educated during the UPP era and so they benefited from an administration who invested in all our children,” she shared.
Humble, down-to-earth, and always lending an ear to those who need it, people that Observer spoke to confidently expressed that Gladys Potter was more than an ordinary politician to them; she was family.
“She is a good girl and from the time I know her, I (was) always close to her. Anything I need she would help me. Sometimes I don’t even ask anybody, but she will help me out,” said one elderly woman whom Potter frequently visited.
“I recently started to pay attention to politics, from an opposition’s perspective, but I have known of her since I knew of her father and I heard people talking about her on the Labour Party radio station that she is the fiery Spanish gyal and, as a woman in politics, I am impressed with her work,” said another.
“What you see now is what she always be, [Gladys] Potter is a genuine lady, call wrong, wrong and what is right, right. She is a person that I will always throw my support behind,” said an elderly man who also spoke about Potter’s caring attitude and love for people.
Gladys Potter came to electoral prominence in the lead-up to the 2023 general election, challenging the incumbent MP Daryll Matthew in the constituency containing parts of Ottos, Radio Range, Golden Grove, Nut Grove, and Gray’s Hill.
Potter was asked who was her role model as she continues to seek elective office.
“The one who I have always sought to emulate and consider when making decisions is Jesus Christ—both in life and politics. In 2014, I came across a book called ‘The Political Teachings of Jesus Christ’ but I didn’t know at that time that, couple years later, I would be considering elective politics.
“Recently, I have been working more on controlling my spirit in a way that I am conscious of my actions and reactions … that has been my biggest challenge to date,” she explained.
During our interview, she spoke deeply about using politics to build people up, not tear them down.
“If elective politics is a part of your way of life, then never, ever tear down your brother, your sister or your opponent to get ahead. Never beg or force anyone to support you.
“Whatever anyone does or say, you simply do good and inspire others to respect the good work you do without fear or favour,” she said.
She said that she had personally experienced that people treat a female candidate differently once they state their intent to run for elective office.
She said that some would even go as far as to discredit her and defame her character to gain support from other people.
This, she said, has been her biggest learning curve—learning to roll with the punches and not let them define her.
Potter believes that meeting people where they are and learning to balance both life, work and politics is important for any person, not just women, to emulate.
“One of my political elders often said that politics is not for the faint of heart; I say that life doesn’t make room for the faint of heart and elective politics is just one part of a person’s life.
“You first have to be strong in the little things, like being a good mother if you have children; being a good wife, if you are married; being a good daughter, etc. These are tests to handle the big things like leading a country out of poverty, or uniting a country in a common good,” she explained.
