The Falkland Islands general election of 2013 was held on Thursday 7 November 2013 to elect all eight members of the Legislative Assembly (five from the

Stanley constituency Stanley is a constituency of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands which has been in existence since the first elections in the Falklands in 1949. The constituency of Stanley consists of the area that lies within 3.5 miles of the spi ...

and three from the Camp constituency) through

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

using block voting, with each Stanley constituent having up to 5 votes and each Camp constituent having up to 3 votes. A total of 1,046 ballots (4,750 votes) were cast in Stanley, representing a turn-out of 75.4%, and 242 ballots (675 votes) in Camp, representing a turn-out of 85.5%. As no political parties are active in the Falklands, all the candidates stood as Independents. The

Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands The Chief Executive of the Falklands Islands is head of the public service responsible for the efficient and effective management of the Falkland Islands Government. The appointment, role and powers of the chief executive are set out in the Const ...

, Keith Padgett, acted as

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...

. It was the second election since the new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

came into force replacing the Legislative Council (which had existed since 1845) with the Legislative Assembly. For the first time, elected candidates would be paid a salary, rather than just expenses, and be expected to work full-time, giving up whatever jobs or business interests they may have previously held. This led to criticism from some Islanders that potential candidates had been put off from standing as they didn't want to give up their jobs. All but two members of the previous Legislative Assembly won re-election (Camp MLA Sharon Halford lost her seat and Stanley MLA Dick Sawle did not stand for re-election). Michael Poole, one of the new intake, became the first member of the islands' legislature to have been born after the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...

and received the highest number of votes of a candidate in the history of the islands.

Campaign

On 29 July 2013 the Executive Council announced that

election day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ...

had been scheduled for 7 November. In preparation for the election, the Legislative Assembly was dissolved by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

on 26 September 2013. Nominations for candidates opened on the day of the dissolution and closed on 17 October. Eleven candidates stood in Stanley and five in Camp. Each candidate made a two-minute televised broadcast on the Falkland Islands Television Service to set out their

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

Hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

were held in late October and early November, with a north–south air-link and better facilities for tourism being the main issues debated.

Results

Incumbent members are in ''italics''.

Stanley constituency

Camp constituency

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkland Islands general election, 2013 2013 elections in British Overseas Territories

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Non-partisan elections November 2013 events in South America