[1] Party leader Charles Johnson, who had been a member of the United States Army, serving in Vietnam and was running a security company in Kingston,[1] was subsequently involved in an attempted coup on 23 June 1980.
Meanwhile, the Jamaican Labour Party (which had not been involved) saw it as an excuse to bring in troops from Cuba prior to elections.
[4] The party contested one seat in the 1983 Jamaican general election.
The elections that year saw a mass boycott (turnout was just 3%)[5] as the People's National Party protested against the government.
The JUF received only 144 votes and failed to win a seat.