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 = Bri ...

on 7 November 2011. The result was a decisive victory for the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP) led by

Orlando Smith Daniel Orlando Smith, OBE (born 28 August 1944) is a British Virgin Islands politician and the former Premier of the British Virgin Islands from 2011 to 2019 and from 2003 to 2007. He also formerly served as Chief Minister of the British Vi ...

over 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 Premier

Ralph T. O'Neal Ralph Telford O'Neal, OBE (15 December 1933 – 11 November 2019) was a British Virgin Islander politician. He was the longest ever serving elected representative in the British Virgin Islands, and served as Chief Minister (when the office was ...

. No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats.

Background

The

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

was dissolved on 13 September 2011, by the Governor, Mr

William Boyd McCleary William Boyd McCleary (born 30 March 1949) is a retired member of HM Diplomatic Service originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland. In September 2010 he was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the British government, to represent ...

, on advice from the Premier. However, the date of the election was not announced until 23 September 2011. Premier Ralph O'Neal confirmed that he would lead his party at the 2011 general election, even though he would turn 78 shortly after the election, and would be 82 at the end of the term of office (if re-elected). Second district representative, Alvin Christopher (who received the highest percentage of votes for a territorial candidate (75.9%) in the 2007 election) announced that he would run for the Virgin Islands Party. Mr Christopher has formerly run for the VIP, the NDP and as an independent candidate. Although the ruling Virgin Islands Party had a huge majority following the 2007 election the intervening years had been characterised by difficult economic times, and a series of natural disasters had hit the Territory damaging its infrastructure. Both of these events led to criticism being directed towards the ruling Government.

Results

The 2011 general election was largely a complete reversal of the 2007 election. Whereas in 2007 everything seemed to go the way of the VIP, in 2011 every closely contested seat seemed to end up falling to the NDP. The VIP characteristically dominated their safe seats in the First, Second and Third Districts, and the NDP characteristically dominated the At-large seats, sweeping all four. But surprise defeats for the VIP in Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Districts handed victory to the NDP. Former Premier Ralph O'Neal managed to cling on to his seat in the Ninth District, which he had held for 40 years, by just 28 votes.

Aftermath

On 9 November 2011 Governor

Boyd McCleary William Boyd McCleary (born 30 March 1949) is a retired member of HM Diplomatic Service originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland. In September 2010 he was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the British government, to represent ...

officially appointed

as the Premier under section 52(1) the

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 princ ...

. He became the third person in BVI political history to serve two non-consecutive terms of office as Chief Minister/Premier, and the fourth to win more than one general election as party leader On the same day the first cabinet was sworn in under Orlando Smith. In addition to serving as Premier, Smith was appointed Minister of Finance and Tourism.

Kedrick Pickering Dr. Kedrick Pickering (born 8 April 1958) is the former Deputy Premier of the Virgin Islands, also known as the British Virgin Islands. He also served as the territory's Minister of Natural Resources and Labour. He is a member of the National D ...

was appointed Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Resources and Labour,

Myron Walwyn Myron Walwyn (born February 22, 1972) is the former Minister of Education and Culture and a Territorial At-Large Representative of the British Virgin Islands. He was elected as an "at-large" representative in the 2011 British Virgin Islands gener ...

was appointed Minister of Education and Culture,

Mark Vanterpool Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

was appointed Minister of Communications and Works and

Ronnie Skelton Since the restoration of democracy in the British Virgin Islands in 1950, only a comparatively small number of persons have been elected to political office. Although elections are held approximately every three or four years, the small size ...

was appointed Minister of Health and Social Development.

Sources

Virgin Islands News Online - 2011 General Election

Platinum News BVI - 2011 General Election

References

{{British Virgin Islands elections

2011 in the British Virgin Islands Elections in the British Virgin Islands November 2011 events in North America