[citation needed] Hart and the other members of "the four Hs" were very active in the trade union movement in Jamaica.

The National Workers Union (NWU) effectively filled the vacuum left by the TUC.

[26] During this period of government, it promoted actively reformist social democratic policies, including opening secondary education to many poorer Jamaicans through state funding of scholarships.

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

[27] 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.

[28] In 1980, after several years characterised by inflation and rising unemployment, the JLP led by Edward Seaga overwhelmingly defeated the PNP in a campaign noteworthy for its alarming level of violence.

Patterson led the PNP to victory in 1993, 1997, and 2002, becoming the first political leader in Jamaican history to win three successive general elections.

[28] In the 2002 election, held on 16 October 2002, the party won 52.2% of the popular vote and 34 of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives.

A recount with official results cost the former agriculture minister, Christopher Tufton, his seat, putting the PNP at 42 and the JLP at 21.

[33] On 5 January 2012, Portia Simpson-Miller was sworn in as prime minister for the second time in her political career.

In the 2016 Jamaican general election on 25 February, Simpson-Miller lost to Andrew Holness by a narrow margin.

Many senior and well-established party members lost their seats, including Peter Bunting, Dayton Campbell, Fenton Ferguson, Horace Dalley, Ian Hayles, Luther Buchanan, Wykeham McNeill, Dwayne Vaz and Richard Azan.

On 4 September 2020 Peter Phillips announced that he would step down as Opposition Leader and retire from representational politics.

[38] The party adheres to social democracy and republicanism, and is a full member of the Socialist International.