The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

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 ...

. It is presently led by Acting Premier

Natalio Wheatley Natalio Dixon Wheatley (born 2 June 1980) is a British Virgin Islands politician currently serving as Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He is the grandson of former Chief Minister, Willard Wheatley. He has at times expressed a preference t ...

. It is the oldest active political party in the British Virgin Islands, and it has won more general elections (seven) than any other political party in the British Virgin Islands. The party was founded by

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 ...

in 1971 when Stoutt left the United Party in order to contest 1971 election after a dispute with Conrad Maduro as to who should be leader of the United Party. The Virgin Islands Party led by Stoutt lost to coalitions led by

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 ...

in the 1971 and

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. ...

general elections, but triumphed in the 1979 general election. Stoutt continued to lead the party until his death in 1995. After Stoutt's death, leadership of the party fell to

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 ...

who led it until he stepped down on 28 May 2014. Prior to the 2011 general election the Virgin Islands Party had held power in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for all except for 15 years since the adoption of the modern Legislative Council in 1967. Between its foundation in 1971 and 2014, the party had only two leaders: Lavity Stoutt and Ralph O'Neal; these two party leaders are also the two longest serving elected politicians in BVI history and the first two leaders of the territory to have served more than two terms as either

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 ...

or Premier.

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 ...

has now also served more than two terms. On 28 May 2014 Julian Fraser took over from Ralph O'Neal, and led the party to defeat in the 2015 general election. On 30 November 2016

Andrew Fahie Andrew Alturo Fahie (, born 7 August 1970) is a British Virgin Islands politician who served as Premier of the British Virgin Islands from 2019 to 2022. He was also the chairman of the Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands from 201 ...

replaced Julian Fraser as party leader, making Fraser the first (and, so far, the only) leader of the Virgin Islands Party not to ascend to either the Chief Minister or Premiership. The party most recently held power after the 2019 general election held on 25 February 2019 winning 8 seats out of 13. Virgin Islands Party had held power continuously from 1986 until 2003, winning four consecutive general elections, which is the longest unbroken streak in government for a political party in the British Virgin Islands.

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

References

{{British Virgin Islands political parties Political parties in the British Virgin Islands Political parties established in 1971 1971 establishments in the British Virgin Islands Conservative parties in British Overseas Territories