General elections were held in the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

on 20 February 1995. The result was a victory for the incumbent

Virgin Islands Party The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is a political party in the British Virgin Islands. It is presently led by Acting Premier Natalio Wheatley. It is the oldest active political party in the British Virgin Islands, and it has won more general elect ...

(VIP) led by

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Lavity Stoutt Hamilton Lavity Stoutt (7 March 1929 – 14 May 1995) was a British Virgin Islander politician and the first and longest serving Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands. He won five general elections (1967, 1979, 1986, 1991 and 1995) ...

. The VIP won a plurality of six seats, and thus were able to form a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

as no other party or coalition could muster a larger number of seats. The BVI United Party (UP) won three seats, and the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) won two seats. The two other seats were won by independents. Shortly after the election

Alvin Christopher J. Alvin Christopher, is a politician who presently serves as leader of the People's Empowerment Party in the British Virgin Islands. He is not currently a member of the House of Assembly, but was the longstanding elected member for the second d ...

joined the VIP upon being offered a Ministerial seat, giving the VIP an outright majority. It was the first election to be fought in the British Virgin Islands after the introduction of Territorial at-large seats. Lavity Stoutt had fought hard against the introduction of at-large seats, fearing it would undermine the strong territorial base of the VIP. After his victory he said: "The at-large system was a plot, a plot designed to derail H. Lavity Stoutt. Well it failed. The people have had their say. Their voice has been heard." The 1995 general election also witnessed the first ever female representatives elected: Ethlyn E. Smith in the Fifth District, and Eileene Parsons as an At-large representative. Eileene Parsons would later join the ruling Virgin Islands Party and become the first ever female Minister for Government in the Territory. Former Chief Minister,

Willard Wheatley Willard Wheatley MBE (16 July 1915 – 22 January 1997) was a British Virgin Islands educator and politician who served two consecutive terms as the Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 1971 to 1979. He was the second ever Chief Mi ...

ran as an independent in at the at-large seats and was resoundingly rejected by the voters, only winning slightly more votes than were recorded as spoiled ballots (265 against 232). It was the last election in the British Virgin Islands to be fought prior to the death of Lavity Stoutt. The supervisor of elections was Eugenie Todman-Smith. The turnout was 68.8%.

Results

Notable candidates

Notable candidates who were elected to the Legislature for the first time included the first two women elected to the Legislature, Ethlyn Eugenie Smith and Eileene Parsons; and future Minister,

. Conversely,

suffered the worst electoral defeat of his career, and would never run again.

Cyril Romney Cyril Brandtford Romney (1 March 1931 – 19 July 2007) was a British Virgin Islander politician who served as Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 1983 to 1986. He also served as a member of the Legislative Council of the British V ...

was defeated for the first time since

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, although he would run again (unsuccessfully) in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. Longtime legislators Oliver Cills and Terrance Lettsome were both elected, but neither would stand again after the 1995 election.

was also elected, but would die later in the same year. Andre Penn was elected for his only ever term of office; Penn would later be convicted of sexual crimes involving children and sentenced to 12 years in prison; and is believed to be the only elected official in the British Virgin Islands to be subsequently convicted of an indictable offence.

Individual territorial seats

First Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 1,139 :Total number of votes cast: 716 :Percentage of voters who voted: 62.9% :Spoiled ballots: 0 Second Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 545 :Total number of votes cast: 345 :Percentage of voters who voted: 83.3% :Spoiled ballots: 1 Third Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 705 :Total number of votes cast: 598 :Percentage of voters who voted: 84.8% :Spoiled ballots: 1 Fourth Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 912 :Total number of votes cast: 618 :Percentage of voters who voted: 67.8% :Spoiled ballots: 3 Fifth Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 973 :Total number of votes cast: 594 :Percentage of voters who voted: 61.0% :Spoiled ballots: 0 Sixth Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 955 :Total number of votes cast: 643 :Percentage of voters who voted: 67.3% :Spoiled ballots: 0 Seventh Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 589 :Total number of votes cast: 379 :Percentage of voters who voted: 64.3% :Spoiled ballots: 1 Eighth Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 727 :Total number of votes cast: 515 :Percentage of voters who voted: 70.8% :Spoiled ballots: 4 Ninth Electoral District :Total number of registered voters: 992 :Total number of votes cast: 808 :Percentage of voters who voted: 81.5% :Spoiled ballots: 5

At-large seats

Territorial At-Large Electoral District :Total votes rejected: 232 :Total valid votes: 19,287 :Total votes counted: 19,500 :Percentage of votes: 63.0% :Total ballots: 5,287 :Total registered: 7,731 :Percentage turnout: 68.39%

References

{{British Virgin Islands elections Elections in the British Virgin Islands

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 ( ...

February 1995 events in North America