After losing the referendum, Manley took Jamaica to the polls in April 1962, to secure a mandate for the island's independence.

[23] This resulted in the independence of Jamaica on 6 August 1962, and several other British colonies in the West Indies followed suit in the next decade.

Bustamante had replaced Manley as premier between April and August, and on independence, he became Jamaica's first prime minister.

Hugh Shearer succeeded Sangster as first deputy leader and prime minister, defeating David Clement (DC) Tavares by two votes in a run-off by of the JLP parliamentarians.

Under Shearer, the JLP lost power in independent Jamaica for the first time to the People's National Party and Michael Manley in 1972.

Bustamante finally gave up the post of party leader in 1974, and Edward Seaga was elected his successor.

[25] Patterson stepped down on 26 February 2006, and was replaced by Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica's first female prime minister.

In 2005 Bruce Golding succeeded Seaga as leader of the party, and led it to victory in the 2007 elections by a narrow margin of 32 seats to 28, with a turnout of 61.46%.

[27] Golding resigned as head of the party and prime minister in October 2011 and was succeeded by Andrew Holness.

Soon after becoming leader, Holness called an election over a year before it was constitutionally due, and the party lost by a 2:1 margin to the PNP.

The party held a leadership election on 10 November 2013 where Holness was challenged by his deputy, Shadow Minister for Finance Audley Shaw.

[29] Holness went on to lead the JLP to a narrow, one-seat parliamentary majority (32–31) in the 2016 general election, reducing the PNP to the opposition benches after one term.

[36] In May 2008, in an interview with Stephen Sackur of the BBC, Bruce Golding PM and Party Leader declared that any cabinet formed by him would exclude any MP known to be gay.

[37] In previous statements, Golding stated that he and his party strongly opposed public displays of homosexuality in Jamaica and that he felt that they should continue to be illegal in keeping with Jamaican societal norms.

Following Barbados' transition to a republic in 2021, Prime Minister and JLP leader Andrew Holness suggested that a referendum on republicanism could be held in Jamaica in 2025.