KAMINA JOHNSON Smith, Jamaican Senator and foreign office minister, apologises for keeping me waiting. She drops a hint the call was about her candidature to be the next Secretary General of the Commonwealth, the very reason for the interview.

She greets me with a warm smile and we sit down in an oak-panelled room at the Jamaica High Commission in London, in the watchful presence of the High Commissioner himself, Seth George Ramocan.

We are here because the race to be the next S-G of the Commonwealth is wide open – and Senator Johnson Smith is one of two Caribbean candidates; the other being the incumbent Baroness Patricia Scotland QC, who is better known as a British politician but in fact runs as the candidate of Dominica. 

Johnson Smith’s rise from lawyer to Senator, and now senior minister in Kingston, has been smooth and rapid. The daughter of a diplomat, minister and former High Commissioner to London, Anthony Johnson, she credits her father as a huge influence before and after his death in April last year.

She looked a little emotional when remembering her father, but soon composed herself and was back in her stride.

So why did she want to run? “Jamaica is running, it’s not just me”, she insists. “It has been phenomenally encouraging to know that your country is standing with you. So there’s a strong national pride element. But it is, of course, about what we bring to the table.”

The Senator is diplomatic by nature. When asked for her thoughts on the Commonwealth, she answered: “We know there’s issues, but we hoped those issues can be resolved, through discussion, etc. But it appears they have not been.”

She would not elaborate much, but did raise what she believed was the absence of a Commonwealth response to the Covid-19 crisis: “There was no Commonwealth response. And part of the feedback that has come to Jamaica, from some of the members of the Commonwealth, has been that this was a missed opportunity. 

“And they do feel that new cohesive, and uniting leadership from Jamaica could actually deliver a different Commonwealth in that regard. One that’s more responsive, and one that cooperates greatly to respond to the needs of its members.”

The Commonwealth of Nations is currently made up of 54 states, shortly to be 55 when Togo is set to join next month at the next Heads of State meeting in the central African capital of Kigali, when members will also vote for a Secretary General.

Johnson Smith said several nations had encouraged Jamaica to put forward a candidate, “not just one country, contrary to the narrative.” This hinted at a rejection of the idea that Britain was a key backer. Does she have a good relationship with the government in Westminster? “Yes, absolutely. I think so.”

It will be no surprise if Boris Johnson’s administration does not back the incumbent Baroness Scotland, who was Britain’s first black Attorney General under Gordon Brown, after a series of negative stories have appeared in rightwing media outlets.

Johnson Smith won’t be drawn on the shenanigans, and is keen to run a positive campaign. She sees the Commonwealth as having the potential to leverage finance for development and to alleviate the impact of climate change for member states, a point she returns to several times.

But the lure of cash isn’t the only selling point. Johnson Smith is also promising a bigger voice for small states, and more ‘consultation with stakeholders’, which sounds like greater internal democracy.

Who is she as a person? I ask what makes her happy. “I’m actually quite a happy person!”, she laughs. “Family makes me hugely happy. Yoga makes me peaceful happy. An early morning jog.” The interview is peppered with her laughter, in fact. 

How would she describe herself? “A bit of a workaholic”, she admits. “And I use the word ‘bit’ advisedly”, she adds with another laugh.

She prides herself on being “the world’s best auntie” to her sibling’s children (she has a big brother and two sisters). She has no children herself but is happily married to Jason Smith.

Johnson Smith is undoubtedly charming, and it remains to be seen how many member states will be casting their vote for her next month.