1.
British Virgin Islands general election, 2015
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The British Virgin Islands general election,2015 was a general election held in the British Virgin Islands on 8 June 2015 to elect members to the House of Assembly. The result was a victory for the incumbent National Democratic Party over the opposition Virgin Islands Party. No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats, unusually, every single incumbent candidate who stood in their original seat was victorious. The supervisor of elections was Juliette Penn, prior to polling day, the VIP had complained to Governor John Duncan of alleged irregularities relating to the conduct advance polling day. In a statement the supervisor of elections acknowledged irregularities, but indicated that they were of a minor and technical nature, the report of the international Election Observer Mission noted that the election was peaceful and vibrant and saw high levels of public engagement. The second sitting of the House of Assembly was dissolved for the election on 1 May 2015, former Premier, Ralph T. ONeal, had warned of the possibility of the Government calling a snap election. President of the opposition Virgin Islands Party, Carvin Malone, had predicted an election on 6 or 13 July 2015, although it became common parlance to refer to the election as a snap election in local media, it is not entirely clear that it was. The ruling party announced candidates for an election over a month prior to dissolution of the House. Former Premier Ralph ONeal stepped down and did not contest the 2015 election and he was the longest serving politician in the Territorys history, and had held the seat for Virgin Gorda and Anegada continuously since 1975. Lavity Stoutts son, Preston, ran in the first district as an independent candidate, willard Wheatleys grandson, Natalio, ran at-large for the Peoples Empowerment Party, and Cyril Romneys daughter, JoAnne, ran in the fourth district for the Virgin Islands Party. However each of those candidates eventually lost their bid by some distance. The 2015 also saw the largest number of candidates in the Territorys history. The NDP fielded three candidates, the VIP fielded six, the PEP fielded one female candidate. The ruling National Democratic Party, led by Premier Orlando Smith and they were opposed by the opposition Virgin Islands Party, led by former Minister Julian Fraser. The NDP and the VIP each fielded a slate of 13 candidates. In addition, a number of independent candidates have declared an intention to stand, the most notable of these was former Deputy Premier, Dancia Penn. Only one candidate had been elected in the British Virgin Islands in the past 20 years running as an independent, the election was noted for its highly negative tenor. A post-election report released afterwards by the Election Observer Mission to the Virgin Islands stated that voters described the 2015 campaign as the most negative they had ever witnessed
2.
Tortola
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Tortola /tɔːrˈtoʊlə/ is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has an area of 55.7 square kilometres with a total population of 23,908. Mount Sage is its highest point at 530 metres above sea level, local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named the island Tórtola, meaning turtle dove in Spanish. In fact, Columbus named the island as Santa Ana, Dutch colonists called it Ter Tholen, after a coastal island that is part of the Netherlands. When the British took over, the name evolved to Tortola, on his second voyage for the Spanish Crown to the Caribbean or West Indies, Christopher Columbus spotted what are now called the British and US Virgin Islands. He named the archipelago after the 11,000 virgins of the 5th-century Christian martyr St. Ursula, the Spanish made a few attempts to settle the islands, but pirates such as Blackbeard and Captain Kidd were the first permanent residents. In the late 16th century, the English, who had usurped control of the area from the Dutch, established a permanent plantation colony on Tortola. Settlers developed the islands for the industry, with large plantations dependent on the slave labor of Africans transported across the Atlantic. They brought their slaves with them, who outnumbered the British colonists, the sugar industry dominated Tortola economic history for more than a century. In the early 19th century, after Britain abolished the slave trade. The colony settled liberated Africans from these ships on Tortola, in the then-unsettled Kingstown area, St. Phillips Church was built in the early 19th century in this community as one of the earliest free black churches in the Americas. After the abolition of slavery in the British colonies in 1834, at this time, Cuba and some South American countries still had slave labor in the sugar industry. In addition, there were changes in the industry, with sugar beets cultivated in England. During the downturn as sugar agriculture became less profitable, a proportion of the white landowning population left the British Virgin Islands. In the late 1970s, the British businessman Ken Bates attempted to lease a part of the island on a 199-year lease. Noel Lloyd, a local activist, led a protest movement forcing the government to drop the plan. Today, a park on Tortola is named after Noel Lloyd, in 1867, an earthquake and tsunami hit the island. Tortola is a mountainous island 19 km long and 5 km wide, formed by volcanic activity, its highest peak is Mount Sage at 530 metres
3.
British Virgin Islands
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The British Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands, are a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the islands constitute the US Virgin Islands. The 150-square-kilometre British Virgin Islands consist of the islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada. About 15 of the islands are inhabited, the capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island, which is about 20 km long and 5 km wide. The islands had a population of about 28,000 at the 2010 Census, of whom approximately 23,500 lived on Tortola, British Virgin Islanders are classed as British Overseas Territories citizens and since 2002 have had an entitlement to take up full UK citizenship. Although the territory is not part of the European Union and not directly subject to EU law, the official name of the territory is still simply the Virgin Islands, but the prefix British is often used. This is commonly believed to distinguish it from the neighbouring American territory which changed its name from the Danish West Indies to Virgin Islands of the United States in 1917. Moreover, the territorys Constitutional Commission has expressed the view that every effort should be made to encourage the use of the name Virgin Islands. In 1968 the British Government issued a memorandum requiring that the stamps in the territory should say British Virgin Islands. This was likely to prevent confusion following on from the adoption of US currency in the Territory in 1959, the Virgin Islands were first settled by the Arawak from South America around 100 BC. The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, the first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes, shortened to Las Vírgenes, there is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period, although the native population on nearby Saint Croix was decimated. The Dutch established a permanent settlement on the island of Tortola by 1648, in 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the English annexation of Anegada and Virgin Gorda followed in 1680. Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John. The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession, but were planted when economic conditions were particularly favourable, the British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and slaves were brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations. In 1917, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas, the British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the British Leeward Islands or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands. The islands gained separate status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967. Since the 1960s, the islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services and they are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago, a few miles east of the US Virgin Islands
4.
Politics of the British Virgin Islands
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Politics of the British Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The British Virgin Islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom, the United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The Constitution of the Islands was introduced in 1971 and amended in 1979,1982,1991,1994,2000 and 2007, executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly, the Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, a new constitution was made in 2007 and came into force after the Legislative Council was dissolved for the 2007 general election. The Governor is appointed by the Monarch, the Premier is appointed by the Governor from among the members of the Legislative Council, and is by parliamentary convention the leader of the party holding the largest number of seats. The Cabinet is appointed by the Governor upon the advice of the Premier from amongst the members of the House of Assembly. The British Virgin Islands elects on territorial level a legislature, the 4 at large seats are a comparatively recent innovation in British Virgin Islands politics. They were introduced under pressure from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the mid-1990s. Under the proposals any person in the Territory could stand as an at large candidate, the four at large candidates who received the highest total number of votes would be elected to the Legislative Council. Despite this opposition the at large seats were introduced, although Lavity Stoutt died shortly after the first election with at large seats in 1995, his fears proved to be well founded. The two main parties in the British Virgin Islands at present at the Virgin Islands Party. Political parties in the British Virgin Islands are not generally formed on an ideological basis, political parties do not identify themselves are being on the political right or the political left. Similarly parties do not normally identify themselves with mainstream political movement such as green politics, although there are no religious parties in the British Virgin Islands, all parties typically identify themselves with Christianity. Most parties campaign on a concepts with close affinity to nationalism, because of the high numbers of economic migrants in the British Virgin Islands, much political campaigning has a xenophobic tinge to it, and often focuses on political patronage for BVIslanders. Notable politicians who have switched parties include, The British Virgin Islands is a state of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Judges in the British Virgin Islands are appointed rather than elected politically, by convention, judges on the Eastern Caribbean are always appointed to sit outside of the jurisdiction they are from to minimise the possibility of political interference with the judiciary. Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, Interpol, IOC, OECS, UNESCO
5.
Constitution
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A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i. e. constitute, some constitutions are uncodified, but written in numerous fundamental Acts of a legislature, court cases or treaties. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from states to companies. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a states rulers cannot cross, the term constitution comes through French from the Latin word constitutio, used for regulations and orders, such as the imperial enactments. Later, the term was used in canon law for an important determination, especially a decree issued by the Pope. The Latin term ultra vires describes activities of officials within an organization or polity that fall outside the constitutional or statutory authority of those officials. Ultra vires gives a justification for the forced cessation of such action. A violation of rights by an official would be ultra vires because a right is a restriction on the powers of government, and therefore that official would be exercising powers they do not have. It was never law, even though, if it had been a statute or statutory provision, in such a case, only the application may be ruled unconstitutional. Historically, the remedy for such violations have been petitions for common law writs, excavations in modern-day Iraq by Ernest de Sarzec in 1877 found evidence of the earliest known code of justice, issued by the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash ca 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this document itself has not yet been discovered, for example, it is known that it relieved tax for widows and orphans, and protected the poor from the usury of the rich. After that, many governments ruled by codes of written laws. The oldest such document still known to exist seems to be the Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur, some of the better-known ancient law codes include the code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin, the code of Hammurabi of Babylonia, the Hittite code, the Assyrian code and Mosaic law. In 621 BC a scribe named Draco codified the cruel oral laws of the city-state of Athens, in 594 BC Solon, the ruler of Athens, created the new Solonian Constitution. It eased the burden of the workers, and determined that membership of the class was to be based on wealth. Cleisthenes again reformed the Athenian constitution and set it on a footing in 508 BC. The most basic definition he used to describe a constitution in general terms was the arrangement of the offices in a state
6.
Constitution of the British Virgin Islands
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The 2007 Constitution was the fourth written constitution of the British Virgin Islands, and superseded the 1976 constitution. The 2007 Constitution was adopted as part of a consultation between the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories. Accordingly, the Constitution is in similar form to the constitutions of a number of other British dependent territories. The Constitution came into force following the dissolution of the old Legislative Council prior to the 2007 general election. The new constitution adopted new nomenclature, the Chief Minister was renamed the Premier, the Executive Council was renamed Cabinet, the British Virgin Islands has had four written constitutions during its modern history. The main purpose of the 1950 Constitution was to power back to the reformed Legislative Council in the British Virgin Islands from the Governor of the Leeward Islands. Historically it is regarded a holding measure and it was famously described by McWelling Todman QC as an instrument minimal in its intent and its effect. Historically it was a part of the process that led to the more fundamental constitutional change. In 1954 the Constitution and Elections Act,1954 was passed, the 1976 constitution was in turn superseded in 2007 by the current form which came into force on 15 June 2007. The constitution provides for a unicameral House of Assembly based upon representative democracy, the head of state is the British Monarch, who is represented in the Territory by the Governor. The Governor appoints as Premier and head of government the leader of the party with the largest number of seats in the House of Assembly. Executive authority is vested in the Cabinet which consists of the Premier, four other Ministers appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier, and the Attorney General, ex officio. Prior to the commencement of Chapter I the Constitution contains a number of recitals relating to the heritage of the British Virgin Islands and this operates as a preludes to various provisions in the Constitution which reserve specific rights of privileges to Belongers. The first chapter of the Constitution simply sets out a number of defined terms and this includes the definition of belonger status under British Virgin Islands law. The second chapter, which is made up of articles 9-34, lays out the fundamental rights, Chapter II expressly reserves the right to the British Virgin Islands Government to legislate in a way which is prejudicial to non-belongers. The third chapter, which is made up of articles 35-45, states that there shall be a Governor of the British Virgin Islands and describes the appointment process for that office. The chapter also sets out how the duties and powers of the Governor are determined, article 37 of the chapter describes the times when an Acting Governor is required and the appointment process for that position. The fourth chapter, which is made up of articles 46-61, sets out the structure, article 46 provides that executive authority is vested in the British Monarch, and exercised through the Governor
7.
Government
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A government is the system by which a state or community is controlled. In the Commonwealth of Nations, the government is also used more narrowly to refer to the collective group of people that exercises executive authority in a state. This usage is analogous to what is called an administration in American English, finally, government is also sometimes used in English as a synonym for governance. In the case of its broad definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. A form of government, or form of governance, refers to the set of political systems. Government of any kind currently affects every human activity in many important ways, in political science, it has long been a goal to create a typology or taxonomy of polities. as typologies of political systems are not obvious. It is especially important in the science fields of comparative politics. On the surface, identifying a form of government appears to be simple, the United States is a constitutional republic, while the former Soviet Union was a socialist republic. However self-identification is not objective, and as Kopstein and Lichbach argue, for example, elections are a defining characteristic of an electoral democracy, but in practice elections in the former Soviet Union were not free and fair and took place in a one-party state. Voltaire argued that the Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, many governments that officially call themselves a democratic republic are not democratic, nor a republic, they are usually a dictatorship de facto. Communist dictatorships have been prone to use this term. For example, the name of North Vietnam was The Democratic Republic of Vietnam. China uses a variant, The Peoples Republic of China, thus in many practical classifications it would not be considered democratic. Experience with those movements in power, and the ties they may have to particular forms of government. For example, The meaning of conservatism in the United States has little in common with the way the words definition is used elsewhere, as Ribuffo notes, what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism. Since the 1950s conservatism in the United States has been associated with the Republican Party. However, during the era of segregation many Southern Democrats were conservatives, values are sorted from 1–100 based on level of democracy and political accountability
8.
Government of the British Virgin Islands
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Her Majestys Government of the Virgin Islands is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of the British Virgin Islands. It is regulated by the Constitution of the British Virgin Islands, the Government is led by the Premier, who selects all the remaining Ministers of Government. The Premier and the other Ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, the Government Ministers are all members of House of Assembly, and are accountable to it. The Government is dependent upon the House to make primary legislation, queen Elizabeth II is the head of state. The monarch selects as Premier the leader of the party most likely to command a majority in the House of Assembly. Elections in the British Virgin Islands are held every four years. The current Premier is Orlando Smith who is a member of the ruling National Democratic Party, Public finances are administered through the Ministry of Finance. In the British Virgin Islands it is common for the Premier to also be the Minister for Finance, Public finance is regulation by the Public Finance Management Act,2004. On 23 April 2012 the Government of the British Virgin Islands signed protocols for effective financial management with the Governor, the protocols also include certain hard limits in relation to Governmental borrowing. As at 2014 public debt in the British Virgin Islands is approximately US$111 million, the British Virgin Islands legislature is the House of Assembly. Prior to the adoption of the new constitution in 2007 the legislature was called the Legislative Council, general elections are conducted every four years. The House consists of 11 elected two members, and two appointed ex-officio non-voting members, the 11 elected members consist of 9 candidates who are elected to represent Territorial districts, and 4 candidates who are elected on a Territory-wide basis. Government is formed by the leader of the party who can most readily command a majority in the House, politicians in the British Virgin Islands also frequently cross the floor to change parties in order to create absolute majorities. The judiciary of British Virgin Islands is based on the judiciary of the United Kingdom, the Territory is a member state of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Judges in the British Virgin Islands are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission of the Supreme Court rather than elected, by convention judges are always appointed to sit outside of the member state where they are originally from. The courts are organised at four levels, including the provision for appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. However, in certain instances British Virgin Islands law provides that in default of any local provision, English law or procedure shall apply
9.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
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The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The monarchs title is King or Queen, the current monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, as the monarchy is constitutional, the monarch is limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch is, by tradition, commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces, from 1603, when the Scottish monarch King James VI inherited the English throne as James I, both the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, the Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married Catholics, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the British monarch became nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the worlds surface at its greatest extent in 1921. After the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, George VI and his successor, Elizabeth II, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth monarchies that share the person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the Monarch is the Head of State, oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors. God Save the Queen is the British national anthem, and the monarch appears on postage stamps, coins, the Monarch takes little direct part in Government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majestys Government, which comprises Ministers, primarily the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and they have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown, the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services. Judicial power is vested in the Judiciary, who by constitution, the Church of England, of which the Monarch is the head, has its own legislative, judicial and executive structures. Powers independent of government are legally granted to public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council. The Sovereigns role as a monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions. This role has been recognised since the 19th century, the constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the dignified part rather than the efficient part of government. Whenever necessary, the Monarch is responsible for appointing a new Prime Minister, the Prime Minister takes office by attending the Monarch in private audience, and after kissing hands that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. Since 1945, there have only been two hung parliaments, the first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilsons Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party, the second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II
10.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
11.
Governor of the Virgin Islands
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The Governor of the Virgin Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdoms overseas territory of the British Virgin Islands. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government, the role of the Governor is to act as the de facto head of state, and he or she is responsible for appointing the Chief Minister and the Executive Council. The current Governor is John Duncan, the Governor has his own flag, the Union Flag defaced with the territorys coat of arms. The official residence of the Governor is Government House located in Road Town, the first colonial administration on the Islands was the Dutch. England annexed the Islands in 1672, an Administrator was appointed to the Islands from 1887, and replaced by a Governor in 1971 when the Islands were created a distinct territory. Prior to this date, the local Council would elect one of their members to be President, up until 1971 the Administrators were answerable to the Governors of the Leeward Islands, of which the British Virgin Islands formed a part. The Governor also has powers to make and remove appointments
12.
Premier of the Virgin Islands
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The Premier of the Virgin Islands is the head of government for the British Virgin Islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Premier is appointed by the Governor on behalf of the British monarch, until 2007, the head of government was known as the Chief Minister. He is serving since 9 November 2011, since the 1967 constitution was adopted, only five different people have served as Premier or Chief Minister, and each of them except for Cyril Romney has served at least two full terms. Also, each of them has served as the Leader of the Opposition, politics of the British Virgin Islands Governor of the Virgin Islands
13.
Orlando Smith
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Dr Daniel Orlando Smith, OBE is the current Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He also formerly served as Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 2003 to 2007 and he first won the office when his National Democratic Party won the 2003 general election, being the partys first victory at a general election in its history. Orlando Smith originally qualified as a physician, specialising in obstetrics, in 2003, Smith led the NDP to victory, defeating the ruling Virgin Islands Party for the first time since 1983 in the 2003 general election. However, in the 2007 general election, Smith and his party suffered a defeat at the hands of the Virgin Islands Party, Smith barely retained his seat as the at-large candidate, receiving the fourth largest number of votes. Smith remained in the legislature as the head of the opposition, in the 2011 general election Smith and the National Democratic Party rebounded, and won an overall majority. Accordingly, he was invited by the governor to form a new government and he followed that with a second successive victory in the 2015 general election becoming only the second politician in the Territory to win three general elections as party leader. He passed Willard Wheatley as the third longest serving head of Government in British Virgin Islands history on 14 February 2016, however, he would need to win a fourth term to surpass Ralph ONeal in second place. During his political career, Smith has stood in each election as an at large candidate, in each election that he had stood in other than the 2007 election, he had garnered more votes than any other at large candidate
14.
Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands
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The Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands is the collective decision-making body of the British Virgin Islands government. It is composed of the Premier, four other Ministers of Government, the Governor attends and presides over meetings of Cabinet where possible. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the House of Assembly for such policies, the Cabinet is supported by a Cabinet Secretary, who summons meetings of Cabinet. The agenda of Cabinet is set by the Cabinet Steering Committee, which consists of the Cabinet Secretary, the Governor, each of the Governor and the Premier have authority to add matters to the Cabinet agenda. The first ever Executive Council was formed on 30 November 1773, at the same time the first Legislative Council was elected. In 1871 a single colony was formed for British dominions in the Caribbean but, tellingly. The Executive Council was formally abolished in 1902, when democracy was reintroduced into the British Virgin Islands in 1950 following the 1950 general election there was no Executive Council to accompany the new Legislative Council. Those terms did not exactly exist in their present form at the time, there were no Ministers prior to 1967, similarly, there was no formal Attorney General until 1967 either, but Herman A. Besson filled that role under the slightly less grand title of Legal Assistant. The members of the first ever Executive Council of the British Virgin Islands were, Geoffrey Pole Allesbrook, H. R. Penn, Glanville Fonseca, Dennis S. Mordecai, in 1999 the Cabinet was expanded to the current format of four Ministers. In 2007 the Executive Council was renamed the Cabinet, and in addition to the members a Cabinet Secretary was appointed
15.
Legislature
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A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
16.
Leader of the Opposition (British Virgin Islands)
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However, in 1990 Cyril Romney was appointed Leader of the Opposition as an Independent and in 1995 Walwyn Brewley was appointed despite leading the party with the third largest number of seats. The Leader of the Opposition is normally viewed as an alternative Premier, on 6 February 2017 Andrew Fahie was appointed as the most recent leader of the opposition. To date a total of people have served as Leader of the Opposition - over twice the number who have served as Premier or Chief Minister. Every person who has served as Chief Minister or Premier has also served as Leader of the Opposition at some point, no person has ever served consecutive terms as Leader of the Opposition. On two occasions has the Leader of the Opposition changed between elections, in 1977, and in 1988, in 2014 Julian Fraser replaced Ralph ONeal as leader of the Virgin Islands Party, but did not formally take over his role as Leader of the Opposition. In 2014, whilst Ralph ONeal was Leader of the Opposition he stepped down as leader of the Virgin Islands Party in favour of Julian Fraser, however ONeal remained the official Leader of the Opposition under the Territorys constitution until he stood down in subsequent general election in June 2015. In that election only two members of the opposition Virgin Islands Party won their seats - Fraser and Andrew Fahie. As the Constitution required that the Leader of the Opposition commanded a support of the majority of the members. Governor John Duncan gave the men a month to resolve their differences, but they were unable to do so, Fahie would later oust Fraser as party leader, and would then be appointed as Leader of the Opposition in his stead. The following is a list of the Leaders of the Opposition in the British Virgin Islands from 1967 to date, Party affiliations are as follows, VIP—Virgin Islands Party NDP—National Democratic Party CCM—Concerned Citizens Movement VIDP—VI Democratic Party UP—United Party
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Julian Fraser
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Julian Fraser, is a politician who belongs to the opposition Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands. He is currently the member for the Third District, a position which he has held since the 1999 general election. He was appointed as Chairman of the Virgin Islands Party on 28 May 2014, after the 2015 general election he was officially appointed as the Leader of the Opposition under the Constitution. On 30 November 2016 Andrew Fahie replaced Julian Fraser as party leader, Julian Fraser was born on 5 July 1950 to and Andrew and Frances Fraser. He is married to Kharid Fraser, the Accountant General of the British Virgin Islands, with whom he has one son, Jamil. He attended High School in the British Virgin Islands before studying a degree. He then studied at the New York Institute of Technology, where he received a Bachelor of Science and he is a registered Architect in the State of New York, and a member of the American Institute of Architects. His personal website claims that he was the architect for the US$2.2 billion building of the World Financial Center. Julian Fraser was appointed as the Virgin Islands Party candidate for the Third District in 1999, from 1971 to 1999 the district was represented by Oliver Cills, except for between 1983 and 1986 when it was represented by Earl Fraser. Since 1971 the Third District has been represented by grand children of James. In 2003 the Virgin Islands Party lost power and he served as a member of the opposition until returning to power in 2007 and he held that position until 2011 when the Virgin Islands Party lost power again. He led the Virgin Islands Party into the 2015 general election, where he suffered a defeat to the incumbent National Democratic Party. In that election only two members of the Virgin Islands Party won their seats - Fraser and Andrew Fahie, subsequently Fraser and Fahie argued over who should be named as leader of the opposition, as Fahie believed he should take over as party leader following the general election defeat. As the Constitution required that the Leader of the Opposition commanded a support of the majority of the members. Governor John Duncan gave the men a month to resolve their differences, but they were unable to do so, Fahie would later oust Fraser as party leader, and would then be appointed as Leader of the Opposition in his stead. In 2014 Fraser faced controversy in relation to his handling of the Sea Cows Bay Harbour Development Project in the Third District, Fraser strenuously denied wrongdoing, and argued the report was part of the Governing National Democratic Party campaign to poison his name. Frasers brother, Earl, who was criticised in the report
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Judiciary
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The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes, in some nations, under doctrines of separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make law or enforce law, but rather interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case. In other nations, the judiciary can make law, known as Common Law, by setting precedent for other judges to follow, the Judiciary is often tasked with ensuring equal justice under law. In many jurisdictions the judicial branch has the power to change laws through the process of judicial review, Judges constitute a critical force for interpretation and implementation of a constitution, thus de facto in common law countries creating the body of constitutional law. Budget of the judiciary in many transitional and developing countries is almost completely controlled by the executive, the latter undermines the separation of powers, as it creates a critical financial dependence of the judiciary. The proper national wealth distribution including the government spending on the judiciary is subject of the constitutional economics and it is important to distinguish between the two methods of corruption of the judiciary, the state, and the private. For instance, in France, the jurisprudence constante of the Court of Cassation or the Council of State is equivalent in practice with case law, in common law jurisdictions, courts interpret law, this includes constitutions, statutes, and regulations. They also make law based upon prior case law in areas where the legislature has not made law, for instance, the tort of negligence is not derived from statute law in most common law jurisdictions. The term common law refers to this kind of law, in civil law jurisdictions, courts interpret the law, but are prohibited from creating law, and thus do not issue rulings more general than the actual case to be judged. Jurisprudence plays a role to case law. State courts, which try 98% of litigation, may have different names and organization, trial courts may be called courts of common plea, appellate courts superior courts or commonwealth courts. The judicial system, whether state or federal, begins with a court of first instance, is appealed to an appellate court, and then ends at the court of last resort. In France, the authority on the interpretation of the law is the Council of State for administrative cases. In the Peoples Republic of China, the authority on the interpretation of the law is the National Peoples Congress. Other countries such as Argentina have mixed systems that include lower courts, appeals courts, a cassation court, in this system the Supreme Court is always the final authority, but criminal cases have four stages, one more than civil law does. On the court sits a total of nine justices and this number has been changed several times. Japans process for selecting judges is longer and more stringent than the process in the United States, assistant judges are appointed from those who have completed their training at the Legal Training and Research Institute located in Wako. Once appointed, assistant judges still may not qualify to sit alone until they have served for five years, Judges require ten years of experience in practical affairs, as a public prosecutor or practicing attorney
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Judiciary of the British Virgin Islands
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The judiciary of British Virgin Islands is based on the judiciary of the United Kingdom. The British Virgin Islands is a state of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The courts are organised at four levels, including the provision for appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. However, in certain instances British Virgin Islands law provides that in default of any local provision, the Magistrates Court is the court of lowest jurisdiction in the British Virgin Islands. The Magistrates Court deals mainly with criminal matters with summary jurisdiction, minor civil claims, the Magistrate also has limited jurisdiction in relation to salvage and wreck. For criminal matters which are either way the accused is given the choice to face trial in the Magistrates Court without a jury or to elect for a trial before a jury in the High Court. If the accused is tried in the Magistrates Court then, if convicted, appeals from the decision of the Magistrate are appealed directly to the Court of Appeal, and do not go the High Court by way of case stated. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is the court of record in the British Virgin Islands. Although commonly referred to as the High Court, technically its correct name is the Supreme Court and it is a court of unlimited jurisdiction in the British Virgin Islands. The British Virgin Islands has one sitting judge of the High Court, in the addition, the Commercial division of the Supreme Court also sits in the British Virgin Islands. It was established in May 2009 and is known universally as the Commercial Court, the present sitting judge is Edward Bannister, QC. The minimum value for a claim to be brought in the Commercial Court is US$500,000, civil procedure in the High Court and its appellate courts is regulated by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Rules. The CPR do not apply to various types of action, including family proceedings, insolvency, non-contentious probate, appeals from both the Supreme Court and Magistrates Court are heard by the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal rotates through the Caribbean member states, Appeal from the Court of Appeal lies to the Privy Council in London. There have been a number of appeals from the British Virgin Islands to the Privy Council over the years, stichting Shell Pensioenfonds v Krys UKPC41 Hague v Nam Tai Electronics UKPC52 and UKPC13 The British Virgin Islands is not a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Although the issue is discussed periodically in the press, at this time seems to be no strong impetus to change from one final appellate court in a foreign jurisdiction to another. Although the British Virgin Islands is not a member of the Council of Europe, the British Virgin Islands is not a member state of Organization of American States and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
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Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
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The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest judicial bodies in the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Councillors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. It is often referred to as the Privy Council, as in most cases appeals are made to Her Majesty in Council. The panel of judges hearing a case is known as the Board. The report of the Board is always accepted by the Queen in Council as judgment, in Commonwealth republics retaining the JCPC as their final court of appeal, appeals are made directly to the Judicial Committee itself. In the case of Brunei, appeals are made to the Sultan of Brunei, formerly the Judicial Committee gave a unanimous report, but since the Judicial Committee Order 1966 dissenting opinions have been allowed. The Judicial Committees permanent home is in London, in the United Kingdom, in this renovated building, Court 3 is used for Privy Council sittings. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has jurisdiction in the domestic matters. Appeals from the courts in non-doctrinal faculty cases. Appeals from the High Court of Chivalry, Appeals from the Court of Admiralty of the Cinque Ports. Appeals from the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, disputes under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975. Additionally, the government may refer any issue to the committee for consideration, in other courts in the United Kingdom, judgments of the Judicial Committee are only of persuasive authority and are not binding as a matter of law. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the Court of Final Appeal for the Church of England. It hears appeals from the Arches Court of Canterbury and the Chancery Court of York, except on matters of doctrine, ritual or ceremony, which go to the Court for Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved. By the Church Discipline Act 1840 and the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 all archbishops and bishops of the Church of England became eligible to be members of the Judicial Committee. Prior to the coming into force of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, on 1 October 2009 this jurisdiction was transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The New Zealand associated states of Cook Islands and Niue, the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey, including Guernseys own dependencies of Alderney and Sark, and appeals from the Staff of Government Division on the Isle of Man. The United Kingdoms Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, in Cyprus, Appeal is directly to the Judicial Committee from three independent Commonwealth republics, Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago, and also, if the case involves constitutional rights, Kiribati
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Law of the British Virgin Islands
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The law of the British Virgin Islands is a combination of common law and statute, and is based heavily upon English law. Law in the British Virgin Islands tends to be a combination of the very old, as a leading offshore financial centre, the territory has extremely modern statutes dealing with company law, insolvency, banking law, trust law, insurance and other related matters. However, in a number of areas of law, such as law, the laws of the British Virgin Islands are based upon very old English laws. Other areas of law, such as law, are essentially regulated externally through the Foreign. A large body of the laws of the British Virgin Islands consists of the common law, the British Virgin Islands is a dependent territory of the United Kingdom. The British Virgin Islands does not have a vote at the United Nations. The early legal history of the British Virgin Islands is somewhat hampered by the fact that in the days of colonisation it was unclear who controlled the islands. The islands were first settled in modern times by the Dutch, the British expelled the Dutch in 1672 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, but later evinced an intention to return the islands to the Dutch. They later resiled from this position and in 1698 the British government took the view that the territory was a British possession and it was not until 1773 that the British Virgin Islands actually had its own legislature. Prior to that date laws were extended to the territory by the legislature of the Leeward Islands in Antigua, some of these laws are still in force in the British Virgin Islands, such as the Common Law Act, which dates from 1705. Doubts as to the validity of those statutes were removed by the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, the Legislative Assembly first sat on 27 January 1774, however, it took a full further decade for a constitutional framework to be settled. Part of the problem was that the islands were so thinly populated, in 1776 George Suckling was appointed as Chief Justice, although he did not arrive until 1778, due to political maneuvering in the territory. Having arrived, the legislature eventually got rid of Suckling by declining to pass the Court Bill, the first law ever to be passed by a local legislature in the British Virgin Islands concerned punishments for runaway slaves. The second provided a mechanism for settling longstanding boundary disputes, both no doubt reflected the concerns of the islands free inhabitants. But the Governor-General refused to assent to any bills until a Court Bill was passed, bills passed by the Legislative Assembly needed to be approved by the Governor-General in Antigua, and early legislation was often vetoed. Laws could also still be passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Leeward Islands under a system. However, the Governor-General used this veto force the Virgin Islands to pass legislation establishing a court, eventually the Court Bill was passed in 1783 together with a Bill validating titles as a form of compromise. Nonetheless, it some time to obtain a Chief Justice whose appointment could be confirmed
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Election
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An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century, Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is used in many other private and business organizations. Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections. To elect means to choose or make a decision, and so other forms of ballot such as referendums are referred to as elections. Elections were used as early in history as ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and throughout the Medieval period to select rulers such as the Holy Roman Emperor, in Vedic period of India, the raja of a gana was apparently elected by the gana. The raja belonged to the noble Kshatriya varna, and was typically a son of the previous raja, however, the gana members had the final say in his elections. The Pala king Gopala in early medieval Bengal was elected by a group of feudal chieftains, such elections were quite common in contemporary societies of the region. In Chola Empire, around 920 CE, in Uthiramerur, palm leaves were used for selecting the village committee members, the leaves, with candidate names written on them, were put inside a mud pot. To select the members, a young boy was asked to take out as many leaves as the number of positions available. This was known as the Kudavolai system, ancient Arabs also used election to choose their caliph, Uthman and Ali, in the early medieval Rashidun Caliphate. Questions of suffrage, especially suffrage for minority groups, have dominated the history of elections, males, the dominate cultural group in North America and Europe, often dominated the electorate and continue to do so in many countries. Early elections in such as the United Kingdom and the United States were dominated by landed or ruling class males. However, by 1920 all Western European and North American democracies had universal male suffrage. Despite legally mandated universal suffrage for males, political barriers were sometimes erected to prevent fair access to elections. The question of who may vote is an issue in elections. In Australia Aboriginal people were not given the right to vote until 1962, suffrage is typically only for citizens of the country, though further limits may be imposed. However, in the European Union, one can vote in municipal elections if one lives in the municipality and is an EU citizen, the nationality of the country of residence is not required
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British Virgin Islands general election, 1950
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The British Virgin Islands general election,1950 was the first election held in the British Virgin Islands after the decision to restore the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands. The election was held on 27 November 1950, and four members were elected to the First Legislative Council, at the time of the election the British Virgin Islands was governed as part of the Leeward Islands and the Legislative Council was constituted under Leeward Islands Act,1950. After the election a new Constitution of the British Virgin Islands came into effect, the 1950 Constitution was intended to be an interim measure, but several elections were later conducted under it until the 1967 Constitution was promulgated. But in 1947 a fisherman from Anegada named Theodolph H Faulkner came to Tortola with his pregnant wife and he had a disagreement with the medical officer, and he went straight to the marketplace and for several nights criticised the government with mounting passion. His oratory struck a chord, a march of over 1,500 British Virgin Islanders led by community leaders presented their grievances at the Commissioners office, following on from the march of 1947 the British undertook to organise elections and work towards the restoration of direct rule. In the end it took three years for elections to occur. At the time of election, the British Virgin Islands was an underdeveloped country. Voters were required to pass a literacy test, effectively disenfranchising much of the population, electoral candidates were required, amongst other things, to be landowners in order to stand for election. There appears to be no historical record of any other candidates who stood. It has been noted that the person whose actions led to the election. It is unclear if this is because he did not stand, however, Faulkner would later be elected to the Legislature in the 1954 election and then again in the 1960 election. Although he would run for election again in the future, Captain Carlton de Castro would only ever serve that one term in the legislature. Mr Brudenell-Bruce never ran for election again, but he served again in the 2nd District when Edwin Leonard stepped down in August 1954, H. R. Penn continued to serve in the legislature until he was beaten decisively in the 1963 general election and declined to run again. He then later served as Speaker of the Legislative Council between 1971 and 1975, mr Fonseca had the longest political career, and would serve continuously in the legislature until his defeat in the 1971 general election. Curiously, the four elected members made up a minority of the Legislative Council. T, franklin BVI election and information results 1950-2011
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British Virgin Islands general election, 1954
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The British Virgin Islands general election,1954 was a general election held in the British Virgin Islands in 1954 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands. The exact date of the election is not recorded, although based on contemporary records it appears to have been in April, similarly the exact vote tallies in each of the districts is not recorded, nor are the names of the candidates who stood. The previous election in 1950 had elected four members to the Council on the basis of a Territory-wide vote, the 1954 election was the first election to employ districting. The Territory was divided into five districts, the largest of which would have two members, at the time candidates were not affiliated with political parties. Notable candidates who were elected for the first time included Theodolph Faulkner, exact voting counts are not recorded, but the following candidates were declared winners, List of Elected Members BVI election and information results 1950-2011
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British Virgin Islands general election, 1957
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The British Virgin Islands general election,1957 was a general election held in the British Virgin Islands in 1957 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands. The election in 1957 is the election with the least recorded information at the Deputy Governors office in the British Virgin Islands, even exact date of the election is not recorded. Nor are the names of the candidates who stood, or is the vote tallies in each of the Districts. There are no details of turnout, nor is it recorded who the supervisor of elections was, the 1957 election is best remembered as the first election in which Lavity Stoutt stood and won. The Territory was divided into five districts, the largest of which would have two members, at the time candidates were not affiliated with political parties. Particulars of the elected to the individual seats are not available for the 1957 general election. It possible to ascertain the list of members elected from the record of individual members who served in the Legislature during that term
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British Virgin Islands general election, 1963
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The British Virgin Islands general election,1963 was a general election held in the British Virgin Islands on 28 November 1963 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands. For the general election the Territory was divided into five districts, the Supervisor of Elections was Ralph T. ONeal. At the time candidates were not affiliated with political parties, notable candidates elected for the first time included future Leader of the Opposition, Q. W. Osborne, and future Minister, Terrance B, the 1963 election essentially served as a prelude to the introduction of Ministerial government in the next election in 1967. Prior to 1967 there were no Ministerial appointments in the British Virgin Islands, subsequent to the election, Lavity Stoutt was appointed Member for Communications and Works, and Ivan Dawson was appointed Member for Trade and Production
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British Virgin Islands general election, 1999
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The British Virgin Islands general election,1999 was held in the British Virgin Islands on 17 May 1999. The result was a victory for the incumbent Virgin Islands Party led by Chief Minister Ralph T. ONeal over the newly formed National Democratic Party led by Orlando Smith. The election was decided in three key seats, the Third District, the Sixth District and the Eighth District. The At-large seats were split equally between the two main parties, ethelyn Smith won the Fifth District for the minority party, the Concerned Citizens Movement, where the second placed candidate was former Chief Minister running as an independent, Cyril Romney. Although the overall vote count was flattering to the NDP this was because they polled well in the At-large seats. Conversely, Julian Fraser won his seat in the Third District with the smallest mandate of any candidate - just 228 votes in a three way contest with a low voter turnout. Conversely, Walwyn Brewley suffered the first electoral defeat of his career, winning candidates are shaded in blue. The previous incumbent, if any, is indicated in bold
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British Virgin Islands general election, 2003
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The 2003 general election was held in the British Virgin Islands on 16 June 2003. It was won by the opposition National Democratic Party, which took 54. 4% of the vote and 8 of the 13 available seats on the Legislative Council, after the election the NDP formed a Government for the first time in its history. Both major parties - the NDP and the Virgin Islands Party actually increased their share of the vote at the expense of minority parties. No independents or any minority parties won any seats, the NDP won all four of the territorial-at-large seats. The 2003 general election was also the first election in the British Virgin Islands where the United Party failed to field a candidate, the NDPs victory was largely as a result of sweeping all four of the At-large seats. However, with each voter being able to cast four votes per ballot, voters exercised a largely binary choice between the two main parties. No third party candidate or independent polled well in any area, in the Territorial seats, Alred Frett in the Fifth District was the highest vote-getter, with a mere 7. 1% of the votes. In the At-large seats, the top eight spots went to the four candidates for each of the two parties, with a massive drop off in numbers of votes for the ninth place candidate. The winning candidate is highlighted in blue, the previous incumbent is indicated in bold
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British Virgin Islands general election, 2007
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The British Virgin Islands general election,2007 was held in the British Virgin Islands on 20 August 2007. The result was a victory for the opposition Virgin Islands Party over the incumbent National Democratic Party. The VIP took 7 of the 9 district seats, the VIP also took 3 out of the 4 territorial at-large seats. The only two NDP candidates to retain their seats were former Chief Minister Orlando Smith and seventh district representative Kedrick Pickering, VIP at-large candidate Zoë McMillan-Walcott had initially asked for a recount of her vote against Orlando Smith for the fourth at-large seat, but she subsequently withdrew the request. Voter turnout was high, with approximately 62. 3% of registered voters casting votes. The lowest turnout was in the district, where only 49. 3% of voters cast votes, the highest was the eighth district. The Supervisor of elections reported that the elections passed off without incident, because of the NDPs high dependence upon At-large seats, a relatively small shift in voter sentiment turned a defeat into a massacre. A variety of circumstances combined to convert the VIPs 45. 2% of the votes into 84. 6% of the available seats once Alvin Christopher formally decided to rejoin his former party. The results of the voting for the seats was as follows. Previously incumbent candidates are marked in bold, Alvin Christopher received the highest percentage of votes for a territorial candidate, whilst Andrew Fahie received the highest number of total votes. Hubert ONeal had the distinction of having the highest number of votes. Elvis Jughead Harrigan had the lowest number of votes and percentage of vote for any successful territorial candidate, the top four vote receiving candidates are elected to the at-large seats. Both were considered remarkable achievements for a politician who was written off by some as a spent force after he lost the election at the age of 69. Despite questions over how long Ralph ONeal expects to serve as Premier, starting his term at the age of 73 and those rumours were further fuelled when Dancia Penn was appointed as Deputy Premier shortly after the election. On 23 August 2007 the first cabinet was sworn in under Ralph ONeal, in addition to serving as the Territory’s first Premier Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal was appointed Minister of Finance and Tourism. Sources, Platinum news, Government Press Release 323R/07 BVI Platinum BVI News online Columnist comment on the election in The Standpoint
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British Virgin Islands general election, 2011
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The British Virgin Islands general election,2011 was held in the British Virgin Islands on 7 November 2011. The result was a victory for the opposition National Democratic Party led by Orlando Smith over the incumbent Virgin Islands Party. No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats, the House of Assembly was dissolved on 13 September 2011, by the Governor, Mr William Boyd McCleary, on advice from the Premier. However, the date of the election was not announced until 23 September 2011. Premier Ralph ONeal confirmed that he would lead his party at the 2011 general election, even though he would turn 78 shortly after the election, Second district representative, Alvin Christopher announced that he would run for the Virgin Islands Party. Mr Christopher has formerly run for the VIP, the NDP, both of these events led to criticism being directed towards the ruling Government. The 2011 general election was largely a complete reversal of the 2007 election, whereas in 2007 everything seemed to go the way of the VIP, in 2011 every closely contested seat seemed to end up falling to the NDP. The VIP characteristically dominated their safe seats in the First, Second and Third Districts, but surprise defeats for the VIP in Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Districts handed victory to the NDP. Former Premier Ralph ONeal managed to cling on to his seat in the Ninth District, the results of the voting for the district seats were as follows, Winning candidates are highlighted in blue. Previously incumbent candidates are marked in bold, in the Territorial seats, the highest percentage of votes and greatest margin of victory was Kedrick Pickering in the 7th district. The largest number of votes however was Delores Christopher in the 5th district. The lowest percentage of votes by a candidate was Marlon Penn in the four way race in the 9th district. The lowest total number of votes by a candidate was Alvin Christopher in the 2nd district. The results for the seats were as following. The top four vote receiving candidates are elected to the at-large seats, on 9 November 2011 Governor Boyd McCleary officially appointed Orlando Smith as the Premier under section 52 the constitution. In addition to serving as Premier, Smith was appointed Minister of Finance, Virgin Islands News Online -2011 General Election Platinum News BVI -2011 General Election
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