2023 British Virgin Islands general election

2023 British Virgin Islands general election

←  2019 24 April 2023 2027 →
All 13 elected seats in the House of Assembly 7 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Natalio Wheatley Ronnie Skelton Party VIP PVIM Last election 8 seats 1 seat Seats won 6 3 Seat change 2 2   Third party Fourth party   Leader Marlon Penn Julian Fraser Party NDP PU Last election 3 seats 1 seat Seats won 3 1 Seat change
Premier before election Natalio Wheatley Virgin Islands Party Premier after election Natalio Wheatley Virgin Islands Party

General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 24 April 2023. ^[1] The governing Virgin Islands Party (VIP) remained the largest party in the House of Assembly but lost its majority resulting in a hung parliament. ^{[2] [3]}

The VIP won six seats, with the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) and the National Democratic Party (NDP) each winning three seats, and Progressives United (PU) winning a single seat. There followed a period of intense discussions between the party to either prise away members or to try and form a coalition between parties. ^[4] In the end former first lady Lorna Smith agreed that she would join the VIP as a single person in coalition to give them a working majority and keep them in power. ^{[5] [6]}

Background

The House of Assembly normally sits in four-year terms. The Governor must dissolve the House within four years of the date when the House first meets after a general election unless it has been dissolved sooner. ^[7] Once the House is dissolved a general election must be held after at least 21 days, but not more than two months after the dissolution of the House.

The elections are the first since the 2021 Commission of Inquiry which recommended the suspension of the Territory's constitution after finding that "[a]lmost everywhere, the principles of good governance, such as openness, transparency and even the rule of law, are ignored". ^[8] Ultimately the UK government did not act upon that recommendation. ^[9] In response to the report the Territory formed a "unity government" including members of the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP) and Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) in the Cabinet. ^[10]

The elections also follow the arrest of the country's Premier Andrew Fahie, in Miami on charges relating to drug smuggling. ^{[11] [12]} Fahie was removed as Premier, representative of the First District, and leader of his political party. Natalio Wheatley succeeded him as Premier and party leader. ^{[13] [14]}

Electoral system

The House of Assembly has a total of 15 members, 13 of whom are members elected by the public to serve a four-year term, plus two ex-officio non-voting members: the Attorney General and the Speaker of the House. Of the 13 elected members, nine are elected via first-past-the-post voting to represent territorial district seats, and four are elected on a territory-wide "at-large" basis via plurality block voting.

Although there was a delay in announcing the date of the elections, campaigning began some weeks before the it was announced. ^[15] After the House of Assembly was dissolved for the election on 10 March 2023 there was then a short delay before the election date was confirmed. ^{[16] [17]}

Parties and candidates

Virgin Islands Party

The incumbent Virgin Islands Party (VIP) was led by Fahie in the previous general election, but following his arrest on charges of drug smuggling offences, ^{[11] [12]} leadership of the party passed to Wheatley. The party was the only political party to contest every single seat. ^{[18] [19] [20]}

National Democratic Party

The NDP is led by Marlon Penn (D8). They fielded nine candidates. ^[21]

Progressive Virgin Islands Movement

The leader of the PVIM, Ronnie Skelton, failed to win a seat in the 2019 election, and so Mitch Turnbull (D2) assumed leadership of the party in the House. However, for the 2023 campaign Skelton resumed leadership of the party. The party's ranks were also bolstered when representative Shereen Flax-Charles (at-large) crossed the floor to join the PVIM. ^[22]

Progressives United

Julian Fraser, the current Leader of the Opposition by default being the only member of the House of Assembly not in the "unity government", is the leader and only sitting member of the Progressives United (PU). On 1 April 2023 the PU announced a 'soft alliance' with the PVIM. No PU candidates were announced other than Fraser. ^[23]

Candidates stepping down

Mark Vanterpool (NDP) confirmed that he would not be defending his District 4 seat and was retiring from politics. ^[24]

Candidates crossing the floor

As often happens in British Virgin Islands politics, a number of candidates were contesting the elections for new parties having "crossed the floor" after being originally elected representing a different party. Flax-Charles left the ruling VIP to join the PVIM, ^[25] and former NDP representative, Alvera Maduro-Caines, left her party to join the VIP. ^[26]

Developments

Merger talks

The NDP and PVIM conducted exploratory merger talks, but ultimately those talks were not successful. ^[27] The PVIM had originally been formed when a number of members of the NDP split away and formed a competing party before the 2019 election. Despite the absence of any formal alliance, it is noteworthy that in only two of the nine districts are candidates from the two parties contesting against each other.^{[ citation needed ]}

On 1 April 2023 the PVIM subsequently announced a 'soft alliance' with the PU. No PU party candidates were announced other than Fraser in District 3. ^[23]

Platforms and election conduct

Polling

No public polling was published.

Policies and platforms

None of the political parties published a political manifesto, but a number of issues arose in press commentary and at party rallies.

The opposition parties tried to make capital out of the arrest of Fahie and the allegations of corruption in the Commission on Inquiry report in relation to the VIP government, treating the election as "a referendum on the corrupt VIP and the corrupt Premier". ^{[28] [29]} Former VIP leader, Fraser, said the party has no place in government. ^[30]

Another sensitive issue which was discussed is the controversial Retiring Allowances (Legislative Services) Amendment Act, 2021 (referred to on social media as the "Greedy Bill") which gave extremely generous payments over a number of years to retiring members of the House of Assembly. The NDP pledged to repeal the Act, calling "political wickedness and greed". ^[31] The VIP hit back, accusing NDP politicians of profiting equally from the act despite criticising it. ^{[32] [33]}

The PVIM indicated that it would make reform of the NHI scheme a priority commitment in government. ^[34] Party leader, Skelton, spent eight years as Minister for Health in an NDP-led government.

Bribery allegations

Allegations of political candidates or their paying persons to vote for them were reported in local news. ^{[35] [36]} The allegation was made by Flax-Charles, a PVIM candidate, during a radio broadcast. She did not name any politicians or agents, but did say that it related to residents in Virgin Gorda. She also did not clarify whether she had reported her concerns to the Electoral Commissioner.

Results

Party		District			At-large			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Virgin Islands Party	3,632	39.60	5	11,576	31.90	1	6	–2
	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	1,439	15.69	1	12,405	34.18	2	3	+2
	National Democratic Party	2,668	29.09	2	9,464	26.08	1	3	0
	Progressives United	459	5.00	1				1	0
	Independents	973	10.61	0	2,844	7.84	0	0	0
Speaker and Attorney General								2	0
Total		9,171	100.00	9	36,289	100.00	4	15	0
Valid votes		9,171	98.88		36,289	97.81
Invalid/blank votes		104	1.12		811	2.19
Total votes		9,275	100.00		37,100	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		16,130	57.50
Source: Government of the British Virgin Islands, [37] [38] BVI Platinum [39]

District seats

First District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Karl Dawson	Virgin Islands Party	452	52.25	Elected
	Sylvia Moses	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	260	30.06
	Chad George	Independent	153	17.69
Total			865	100.00
Valid votes			865	99.43
Invalid/blank votes			5	0.57
Total votes			870	100.00

Karl Dawson won the seat formerly held by Fahie. Outside of by-elections, he becomes only the third person after Fahie and Lavity Stoutt to win District One in its history.

Second District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Melvin Turnbull Jr.	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	560	57.20	Re-elected
	Troy Christopher	Independent	303	30.95
	Marieta Flax-Headley	Virgin Islands Party	116	11.85
Total			979	100.00
Valid votes			979	99.90
Invalid/blank votes			1	0.10
Total votes			980	100.00

Incumbent Melvin Turnbull won the Second District for the third time in a row.

Third District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Julian Fraser	Progressives United	459	46.27	Re-elected
	Aaron Parillon	National Democratic Party	347	34.98
	Kevin "OJ" Smith	Virgin Islands Party	186	18.75
Total			992	100.00
Valid votes			992	98.61
Invalid/blank votes			14	1.39
Total votes			1,006	100.00

Incumbent Fraser won District Three for the seventh time in a row. His seven general election wins are fourth most in BVI history.

Fourth District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Luce Hodge-Smith	Virgin Islands Party	322	42.15	Elected
	Sandy Harrigan-Underhill	National Democratic Party	285	37.30
	Ian Smith	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	145	18.98
	Rosita Scatliffe-Thompson	Independent	12	1.57
Total			764	100.00
Valid votes			764	99.35
Invalid/blank votes			5	0.65
Total votes			769	100.00

Luce Hodge-Smith (VIP) won the 4th District at her second attempt.

Fifth District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Kye Rymer	Virgin Islands Party	840	71.07	Re-elected
	Marvin Blyden	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	342	28.93
Total			1,182	100.00
Valid votes			1,182	98.25
Invalid/blank votes			21	1.75
Total votes			1,203	100.00

Incumbent Kye Rymer easily defended his seat.

Sixth District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Myron Walwyn	National Democratic Party	736	63.72	Elected
	Alvera Maduro-Caines	Virgin Islands Party	419	36.28	Unseated
Total			1,155	100.00
Valid votes			1,155	98.38
Invalid/blank votes			19	1.62
Total votes			1,174	100.00

Former NDP party leader, Myron Walwyn, won a surprisingly easy victory over incumbent, Maduro-Caines.

Seventh District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Natalio Wheatley	Virgin Islands Party	487	57.03	Re-elected
	Perline Scatliffe-Leonard	Independent	367	42.97
Total			854	100.00
Valid votes			854	97.71
Invalid/blank votes			20	2.29
Total votes			874	100.00

Incumbent Wheatley fended off his lone challenger in District Seven.

Eighth District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Marlon Penn	National Democratic Party	885	73.50	Re-elected
	Allen Wheatley	Virgin Islands Party	319	26.50
Total			1,204	100.00
Valid votes			1,204	98.69
Invalid/blank votes			16	1.31
Total votes			1,220	100.00

Marlon Penn won his fourth consecutive contest in District Eight, continuing the Penn family domination of that seat.

Ninth District

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Vincent Wheatley	Virgin Islands Party	491	41.75	Re-elected
	Coy Levens	National Democratic Party	415	35.29
	Shereen Flax-Charles	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	239	20.32
	Vernon Vanterpool	Independent	31	2.64
Total			1,176	100.00
Valid votes			1,176	99.75
Invalid/blank votes			3	0.25
Total votes			1,179	100.00

Vincent Wheatley held on to his seat amid a crowded field as Coy Levens and Flax-Charles split the anti-government vote.

At-large seats

Unusually the four at-large seats were split amongst three different parties. Incumbent Sharie de Castro was returned, but other VIP incumbents Neville Smith and Carvin Malone were ousted. Skelton returns to the house after losing his seat in 2019, and is joined by new member Stacy "Buddha" Mather. Former first lady Lorna Smith also won for the first time in her first contest for the NDP. ^[40]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Stacy "Buddha" Mather	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	3,617	9.97	Elected
	Lorna Smith	National Democratic Party	3,578	9.86	Elected
	Sharie De Castro	Virgin Islands Party	3,471	9.56	Re-elected
	Ronnie Skelton	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	3,332	9.18	Elected
	Neville Smith	Virgin Islands Party	2,978	8.21	Unseated
	Kedrick Pickering	National Democratic Party	2,860	7.88
	Shaina Smith-Archer	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	2,781	7.66
	Zoe Walcott	Virgin Islands Party	2,697	7.43
	Ingrid Moses-Scatliffe	Progressive Virgin Islands Movement	2,675	7.37
	Carvin Malone	Virgin Islands Party	2,430	6.70	Unseated
	Renard Estridge	National Democratic Party	1,630	4.49
	Daniel Fligelston-Davies	Independent	1,490	4.11
	Allen O'Neal	National Democratic Party	1,396	3.85
	Lesmore Smith	Independent	851	2.35
	Karen Vanterpool	Independent	244	0.67
	Mitsy Ellis-Simpson	Independent	164	0.45
	Ishmael Brathwaite	Independent	95	0.26
Total			36,289	100.00
Valid votes			36,289	97.81
Invalid/blank votes			811	2.19
Total votes			37,100	100.00

Aftermath

Coalition discussions

Because of the division of seats, no party had won overall control of the House of Assembly. ^[2] There followed a period of intense discussions between the parties to either pry away members or to try and form a coalition between parties. ^[4] Within 24 hours Lorna Smith, who campaigned as a member of the NDP (and whose husband had led three NDP governments), agreed that she would join the VIP as a single person in coalition to give them a working majority and keep them in power. ^{[5] [6]} Almost immediately there followed an announcement that she would be the Deputy Premier in the new government. ^[41]

Cabinet

Main article: Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands

Unusually, the new government and ministers were sworn in but without confirming ministerial portfolios. Party leader, Natalio Wheatley, was sworn in as Premier, and Lorna Smith was sworn in as Deputy Premier. Kye Rymer, Vincent Wheatley and Sharie de Castro were also sworn in as Ministers but without specifying their portfolios, and Karl Dawson and Luce Hodge-Smith were sworn in as Junior Ministers. ^[42] This effectively brought an end to the cross-party "unity government" which was put in place following the 2021 Commission of Inquiry.

Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands ^[42]

Office	Members	Notes
Premier	Natalio Wheatley	Minister of Finance
Governor	John Rankin
Ministers	Lorna Smith	Deputy Premier Minister for Financial Services, Labour and Trade
	Kye Rymer	Minister for Communications and Works
	Sharie de Castro	Minister for Education, Youth Affairs and Sports
	Vincent Wheatley	Minister for Health and Welfare
Junior Ministers	Karl Dawson	Junior Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries
	Luce Hodge-Smith	Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism
Attorney General	Dawn Smith	Ex-officio, non-voting
Cabinet Secretary	Sandra Ward

Ronnie Skelton was confirmed as the Leader of the Opposition. ^[43]

Other

The Premier, Natalio Wheatley, called upon all parties to put the election behind them and move forward together. ^[44]

Predictably, a great deal of the local commentary on the election focussed upon the shock move when Lorna Smith switched from a lifetime supporting the NDP to join the VIP - a party she had repeatedly and loudly attacked throughout her campaign. ^{[45] [46]} Shortly after the election the NDP announced that she was being expelled from the party. ^[47]

Separately, the Supervisor for Elections called for a wholesale reform of the Election Act ahead of the next general election. ^[48]

References

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2. "FINAL ELECTION RESULTS: No clear winner! Coalition likely". BVI News. 24 April 2023.
3. "No Majority Winner! Negotiations Underway To Form New BVI Government". BVI Platinum. 24 April 2023.
4. "Elected parties locked in talks about coalition". BVI News. 25 April 2023.
5. "Cornerstone! Lorna Smith joins VIP to help form new gov't". BVI News. 25 April 2023.
6. "BREAKING NEWS: NDP's Lorna Smith Joins VIP To Form Gov't". BVI Platinum. 25 April 2023.
7. "Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 84(3)" (PDF). Government of the Virgin Islands. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
8. Hickinbottom, Gary (2022). "British Virgin Islands Commission of Inquiry: Report of the Commissioner, the Rt Hon Sir Gary Hickinbottom" (PDF). Government of the British Virgin Islands. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
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37. https://bvi.gov.vg/sites/default/files/resources/electoral_district_statistics.pdf
38. https://bvi.gov.vg/sites/default/files/resources/polling_division_statistics.pdf
39. https://www.bviplatinum.com/election.php
40. "FINAL ELECTION RESULTS: No clear winner! Coalition likely". BVI News. 24 April 2023.
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44. "Let's move on, says Premier in post-election address". BVI News. 26 April 2023.
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47. "Lorna Smith to be axed from NDP's corner". BVI News. 27 April 2023.
48. "Elections Act needs comprehensive review — Elections Supervisor". BVI News. 26 April 2023.