The Legislative Council (LegCo) was the legislature of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

between 1960 and 1970.

History

The Legislative Council was created following the proclamation of the British Solomon Islands (Constitution)

Order-in-Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

, 1960 on 18 October 1960. It created a Council with 21 members, eleven of which were government officials and ten were nominees, of which six had to be Solomon Islanders. Its first meeting was held in 1961 in Honiara Teachers' College Assembly Hall. In 1964 a new constitution was produced, introducing eight elected members to an enlarged 25-member Council alongside two nominees. However, only one of the eight members were directly-elected, with

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

taking place in the

Honiara constituency Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and li ...

resulting in

Eric Lawson Eric Lawson (born February 12, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who is perhaps best known for his fight stint with now-defunct promotion Strikeforce. A professional mixed martial arts since 2004, Lawson holds a record of 9–5. Mixe ...

becoming the first elected member. The other seven members were elected by electoral colleges formed by local councils, with three elected in Malaita District, two in Central District, and one from each of the Eastern and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

districts. An Order-in-Council made by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 23 December 1966 increased the number of members to 29 and the number of elected members to 14 (although the

Eastern Outer Islands constituency Eastern Outer Islands was a single-member constituency of the Legislative Council, Governing Council and Legislative Assembly of the Solomon Islands between 1967 and 1976. It was succeeded by the First and Second Eastern Outer Islands constit ...

continued to use an electoral college), alongside fifteen government officials (the High Commissioner had the right to appoint two members, but did not).

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

were held the following year. The Council was abolished when a new constitution was promulgated on 10 April, combining it with the Executive Council to form the

Governing Council A personal ordinariate for former Anglicanism, Anglicans, shortened as personal ordinariate or Anglican ordinariate,"...the liturgies approved for the Anglican ordinariates..." "Bishop Stephen Lopes of the Anglican Ordinariate of the Chair of St ...

.Decolonising the Solomon Islands: British theory and Melanesian practice
Alfred Deakin Research Institute

Constituencies

References

{{reflist 1960 establishments in the Solomon Islands 1970 disestablishments in the Solomon Islands Defunct unicameral legislatures