British Virgin Islands general election, 1986
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The British Virgin Islands general election, 1986 was a "snap" election held in the British Virgin Islands on 17 November 1986. The result was a victory for the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by Chief Minister Lavity Stoutt over the United Party (UP). Subsequent to the election Ralph T. O'Neal became leader of the opposition despite not being head of the UP.
The VIP won 5 of the available 9 seats giving it an absolute majority. Conrad Maduro and Ralph O'Neal were the only members of the UP to win a seat. Maduro only won by a single vote, and O'Neal would change allegiance to the Virgin Islands Party before the next general election. Two candidates running as independents, Walwyn Brewley and former Chief Minister Cyril Romney, were elected. The election victory would make the start of 17 consecutive years in power for the VIP, which would only end in the 2003 general election.
Although Stoutt had lost the previous election, former Chief Minister Cyril Romney had been forced to step down on 1 October 1986 by Governor David Barwick, and so Stoutt had assumed Premiership by virtue of leadership of the largest party in the house prior to the election.
Janice George-Creque served as the supervisor of elections.[1] The turnout was 67.6% across the Territory, although this masked regional variations in the individual district seats. Turnout was highest in the 9th District (81.3%) and lowest in the 2nd (60.3%) and 3rd (60.6%) Districts. The low turnout in the 2nd District proved ironic, as that seat was decided by a single vote.
Background
Whilst serving as Chief Minister Romney was the 99% owner of a trust company called Financial Management Trust, which had been linked with laundering drugs money.[2] Although Romney was not personally implicated in the money laundering scheme, he was serving as Chief Minister at the time, the Legislative Council resolved to debate a no-confidence motion, and Governor Barwick ordered Romney to step down. To preempt the motion, Romney dissolved the Legislative Council and called a general election.
Results
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| People's Party | 255 | 6.3% | 0 |
| BVI United Party | 977 | 24.3% | 2 |
| Virgin Islands Party | 1,838 | 45.7% | 5 |
| Independents | 872 | 21.7% | 2 |
| Speaker and Attorney General | 2 | ||
| Total (turnout 67.6%) | 11 | ||
| Source: BVI election and information results 1950–2011 | |||
Although Romney himself was returned as the representative for Fifth District, his coalition partners in the United Party were beaten by Lavity Stoutt's Virgin Islands Party. The former coalition won only three seats: Romney himself, Conrad Maduro (and Maduro's victory was by a single vote), and Ralph O'Neal. O'Neal was appointed leader of the opposition, but that role would pass to Maduro when O'Neal later joined the Virgin Islands Party.
No notable candidates were elected to the Legislature for the first time, but the defeat of Q.W. Osborne would signal the end of his political career. Willard Wheatley also suffered the first defeat of his political career, but would continue on in politics.
District seats
The winners of the district seats were as follows:[3]
First Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zion Hill | Carrot Bay | Jost Van Dyke | |||
| H. Lavity Stoutt (VIP) | 174 | 185 | 57 | 416 | 64.9% |
| Basil Blake (PP) | 153 | 51 | 9 | 213 | 33.2% |
| Rejected | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 1.9% |
- Total number of registered voters: 929
- Total number of votes cast: 641
- Percentage of voters who voted: 69.0%
Second Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cane Garden Bay | Brewers Bay | New Bush | |||
| Conrad Maduro (UP) | 45 | 35 | 12 | 92 | 38.2% |
| Prince Stoutt (IND) | 63 | 25 | 3 | 91 | 37.8% |
| Malcia Hodge (VIP) | 35 | 11 | 3 | 50 | 20.7% |
| Rejected | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 3.3% |
- Total number of registered voters: 398
- Total number of votes cast: 241
- Percentage of voters who voted: 60.6%
Third Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Cows Bay | Meyers | |||
| Oliver Cills (VIP) | 211 | 41 | 252 | 56.5% |
| Alred Christopher (UP) | 58 | 45 | 103 | 23.1% |
| Earl Fraser (IND) | 31 | 12 | 43 | 9.6% |
| Ishmael Brathwaite (PP) | 40 | 2 | 42 | 9.4% |
| Rejected | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1.3% |
- Total number of registered voters: 740
- Total number of votes cast: 446
- Percentage of voters who voted: 60.3%
Fourth Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road Town | Salt Island | |||
| E. Walwyn Brewley (IND) | 180 | 1 | 181 | 32.7% |
| Elihu Rymer (IND) | 110 | 0 | 110 | 19.9% |
| Alban U. Anthony (VIP) | 87 | 4 | 91 | 16.4% |
| Ishmael Scatliffe (IND) | 64 | 0 | 64 | 11.6% |
| Q. William Osborne (IND) | 41 | 0 | 41 | 7.4% |
| Ulric Scatliffe (UP) | 41 | 0 | 41 | 7.4% |
| Rejected | 26 | 0 | 26 | 4.7% |
- Total number of registered voters: 801
- Total number of votes cast: 554
- Percentage of voters who voted: 69.2%
Fifth Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntums Ghut | Long Trench | |||
| Cyril Romney (IND) | 146 | 38 | 184 | 42.2% |
| Eileene Parsons (IND) | 94 | 64 | 158 | 36.2% |
| Patsy Lake (VIP) | 66 | 18 | 84 | 19.3% |
| Rejected | 7 | 3 | 10 | 2.3% |
- Total number of registered voters: 693
- Total number of votes cast: 436
- Percentage of voters who voted: 62.9%
Sixth Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baughers Bay | Belle Vue | |||
| Omar Hodge (VIP) | 249 | 45 | 294 | 63.4% |
| Charles Mercer (UP) | 154 | 11 | 165 | 35.6% |
| Rejected | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1.0% |
- Total number of registered voters: 688
- Total number of votes cast: 464
- Percentage of voters who voted: 67.4%
Seventh Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Look | |||
| Terrance B. Lettsome (VIP) | 227 | 227 | 74.9% |
| Collingston George (UP) | 73 | 73 | 24.1% |
| Rejected | 3 | 3 | 1.0% |
- Total number of registered voters: 456
- Total number of votes cast: 303
- Percentage of voters who voted: 66.4%
Eighth Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East End | Hope Estate | |||
| Louis Walters (VIP) | 164 | 14 | 178 | 51.0% |
| Willard Wheatley (UP) | 160 | 6 | 166 | 47.6% |
| Rejected | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1.4% |
- Total number of registered voters: 521
- Total number of votes cast: 349
- Percentage of voters who voted: 67.0%
Ninth Electoral District
| Candidate | Polling Divisions | Total | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Valley | North Sound | Anegada | |||
| Ralph T. O'Neal (UP) | 230 | 88 | 19 | 337 | 57.4% |
| Allen O'Neal (VIP) | 137 | 66 | 43 | 246 | 41.9% |
| Rejected | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.7% |
- Total number of registered voters: 722
- Total number of votes cast: 587
- Percentage of voters who voted: 81.3%
IND = Independent
PP = People's Party
UP = BVI United Party
VIP = Virgin Islands Party
In the 1st District, Lavity Stoutt secured both the highest number of individual votes, and the highest percentage of the vote of any candidate.
References
- ↑ "BVI election and information results 1950-2011" (PDF). BVI Deputy Governor's Office. p. 7.
- ↑ Duthel, Heinz (2008). The Professionals - Politic & Crime – International Moneylaundering. p. 182. ISBN 1409222209. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
- ↑ "BVI election and information results 1950-2011" (PDF). BVI Deputy Governor's Office. pp. 95–97.
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