Premier of the British Virgin Islands
| Premier of the British Virgin Islands | |
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| Style | The Honourable |
| Appointer | Governor of the British Virgin Islands |
| Term length | At the Governor's pleasure (normally 4 years) |
| Formation | April 1967 |
| First holder | as Chief Minister |
| Website | Office of the Premier |
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the British Virgin Islands |
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The Premier of the British 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 Monarchy of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II.[1] Until 2007, the head of government was known as the Chief Minister.[2]
Since the 1967 constitution was adopted, only five people have served as Premier of Chief Minister, and each of them except for Cyril Romney has served at least two full terms. Lavity Stoutt is the only former leader to have won more than two general elections however (he won five), and Stoutt and Willard Wheatley are the only two former leaders to have served two consecutive full terms (Ralph O'Neal also served two consecutive terms, but the first of those was the remaining part of a term after Stoutt's death).
List of Chief Ministers and Premiers[edit]
To date, only six different people (all men) have held the office of Chief Minister or Premier. Of those six, all except one (Cyril Romney) have been elected to the office on at least two occasions. All six have also served as Leader of the Opposition. The longest serving has been Lavity Stoutt, who was elected as Chief Minister five times (although he only served a small part of his fifth term prior to his death in office) and served as Chief Minister for a total of 16 years, 270 days.
| Term | Duration | Incumbent | Party | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | |||||
| 14 April 1967 | 2 June 1971 | 4 years, 49 days | H. Lavity Stoutt | UP | Chief Minister | 1st Term |
| 2 June 1971 | 12 November 1979 | 8 years, 163 days | Willard Wheatley | DP, UP[3] | Chief Minister | 1st Term and 2nd Term |
| 12 November 1979 | 11 November 1983 | 3 years, 364 days | H. Lavity Stoutt | VIP | Chief Minister | 2nd Term |
| 11 November 1983 | 1 October 1986 | 2 years, 324 days | Cyril Romney | UP | Chief Minister | |
| 1 October 1986 | 14 May 1995 | 8 years, 225 days | H. Lavity Stoutt | VIP | Chief Minister | 3rd Term, 4th Term and 5th Term (died in office) |
| 15 May 1995 | 17 June 2003 | 8 years, 33 days | Ralph T. O'Neal | VIP | Chief Minister | 1st Term (partial) and 2nd Term |
| 17 June 2003 | 23 August 2007 | 4 years, 67 days | D. Orlando Smith | NDP | Chief Minister | 1st Term |
| 23 August 2007 | 9 November 2011 | 4 years, 78 days | Ralph T. O'Neal | VIP | Premier | 3rd Term (2nd full Term) |
| 9 November 2011 | Incumbent | 3 years, 348 days | D. Orlando Smith | NDP | Premier | 2nd Term |
| Duration of terms are calculated as commencing on the date of the election; not the actual subsequent date of appointment by the Governor, which is usually a few days later. | ||||||
Party affiliations are as follows:
- DP—VI Democratic Party
- NDP—National Democratic Party
- UP—United Party (defunct)
- VIP—Virgin Islands Party
References[edit]
- ^ The Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007 (SI 2007/1678)
- ^ The Virgin Islands (Constitution) Order 1976 (SI 1976/2145), as amended by 1979/1603, 1982/151, 1991/2871 and 1994/1638
- ^ Wheatley led a coalition of himself plus the VI Democratic Party in the 1971 election and then another coalition of himself plus the United Party in the 1975 election.
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