1979 British Virgin Islands general election

12 November 1979 (1979-11-12)

All seats in the British Virgin Islands Legislative Council
5 seats needed for a majority
Turnout74.8%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Lavity Stoutt Willard Wheatley
Party VIP United Party
Leader since 1971 1975
Leader's seat 1st District 7th District
Seats won 5 1
Popular vote 733 178
Percentage 27.8% 6.7%

Chief Minister before election

Willard Wheatley
United Party (Coalition)

Elected Chief Minister

Lavity Stoutt
VIP

General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 12 November 1979. The result was a victory for the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by former Chief Minister Lavity Stoutt over the incumbent United Party (UP) led by Willard Wheatley. The newly formed Virgin Islands National Movement (VINM), led by Elvin Stoutt, also contested the elections but did not win any seats.

The supervisor of elections was Trevor A.F. Peters.[1] Voter turnout was 74.8%.

The 1979 general election was the first election to be conducted after the Legislature had been expanded from seven to nine elected seats. Three of the nine seats were not contested, with only a single candidate standing in the 3rd, 7th and 8th Districts. For the 3rd District, this was the second consecutive general election where the seat was uncontested.

The Virgin Islands Party won the election despite receiving only 733 votes in aggregate across all seats, and just 27.8% of the vote. This low figure was in part was caused by the high number of uncontested seats, but also reflected significant voter disenchantment with the political process.

Background

By 1979 internal fighting had severely limited the capability of almost every political party in the British Virgin Islands. After internal fighting, the VI Democratic Party (VIDP) was left with just one candidate: its founder, Q.W. Osborne. The United Party fared little better: it was able to field two candidates. Neither party would win a contested seat, although Willard Wheatley would win the 7th District by default for the United Party as he was unopposed. The newly created Virgin Islands National Movement fielded the second most candidates with three, and even the Virgin Islands Party could only muster four.

Results

The Virgin Islands Party won all four of the seats it contested. Still short of being able to form a government, they moved to secure the loyalty of Oliver Cills (who had previously been a member of the VI Democratic Party), giving them a majority with which to form a government.

The victory of the Virgin Islands Party with just 733 votes and a 27.8% share of the vote are both record lows for a general election in the British Virgin Islands.

Candidates who were elected for the first time included future Chief Minister, Cyril Romney, and future Minister, Omar Hodge, who would hold his seat for the next 32 years (the third longest such span in British Virgin Islands politics).

The defeat of Q.W. Osborne in the 5th District signalled the end of the VI Democratic Party. Following the elections, the United Party was the only party left in existence from the 1967 general election.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Virgin Islands Party73327.784+1
Virgin Islands National Movement60522.930New
United Party1786.741–1
VI Democratic Party1194.510–1
Independents1,00438.044+3
Total2,639100.009+2
Valid votes2,63998.80
Invalid/blank votes321.20
Total votes2,671100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,57074.82
Source: BVI Deputy Governor's Office[1]

By constituency

British Virgin Islands general election, 1979[1]
Constituency Candidates Votes Percentage Winner Party
1st District
Turnout: 77.6%
H. Lavity Stoutt (VIP) 328 55.2% H. Lavity Stoutt Virgin Islands Party
Elvin O. Stoutt (VINM) 256 43.1%
Rejected 10 1.7%
Total 594 100%
2nd District
Turnout: 67.0%
Prince Stoutt (VIP) 139 57.0% Prince Stoutt Virgin Islands Party
Edison O'Neal (VINM) 103 42.2%
Rejected 2 0.8%
Total 244 100%
3rd District Oliver Cills (VIP) Uncontested Oliver Cills Virgin Islands Party*
4th District
Turnout: 70.8%
Alban Ulric Anthony (VIP) 266 50.0% Alban Ulric Anthony Virgin Islands Party
Reynold O'Neal (VINM) 246 46.2%
Carlton deCastro (Ind) 13 2.4%
Rejected 7 1.3%
Total 532 100%
5th District
Turnout: 74.1%
Cyril Romney (Ind) 222 64.5% Cyril Romney Independent
Q.W. Osborne (VIDP) 119 34.6%
Rejected 3 0.9%
Total 344 100%
6th District
Turnout: 68.9%
Omar Hodge (Ind) 197 52.0% Omar Hodge Independent
Conrad Antonio Maduro 178 47.0%
Rejected 4 1.0%
Total 379 100%
7th District Terrance B. Lettsome (VIP) Uncontested Terrance B. Lettsome Virgin Islands Party*
8th District Willard Wheatley (UP) Uncontested Willard Wheatley United Party*
9th District
Turnout: 85.5%
Ralph T. O'Neal (Ind) 403 59.6% Ralph T. O'Neal Independent
Reeial George (Ind) 169 25.0%
Rejected 6 0.9%
Total 578 100%
* Candidates in uncontested seats were not required to declare parties for the purposes of the election. They are recorded on the basis of the parties that they sat with during the Legislative sessions following the election.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 "BVI election and information results 1950–2011" (PDF). BVI Deputy Governor's Office. pp. 84–86. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2014.
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