Isaac Glanville Fonseca OBE was a British Virgin Islands political figure around the time of the restoration of democracy in 1950. Fonseca was one of the community leaders who participated in the "march of 1949" and later went on to become one of the longest serving legislators in the British Virgin Islands, winning a total of six general elections before retiring from politics.
In 1949 an unlikely political hero emerged in the British Virgin Islands. Theodolph H Faulkner was a fisherman from Anegada, who came to Tortola with his pregnant wife. He had a disagreement with the medical officer, and he went straight to the marketplace and for several nights criticised the government with mounting passion. His oratory struck a chord, and a movement started. Led by community leaders such as Isaac Fonseca and Carlton de Castro, a throng of over 1,500 British Virgin Islanders marched on the Administrator's office on 24 November 1949 and presented their grievances. [1]
This led directly to the enacting of a new constitution for the Territory under which the first general election was held in 1950. Four candidates were elected on a Territory wide basis to serve on the new Legislative Council alongside two appointed members, two ex officio members, and the Administrator of the British Virgin Islands. Isaac Fonseca was amongst the four candidates elected, and a bust memorialising him and the other inaugural legislators stands outside of the House of Assembly.
Between 1950 and 1967 elections were conducted on a non-party basis, and the Legislative Council functioned as a collection of wise men for the better guidance of the Territory. At each such general election Isaac Fonseca stood, and at each such election he was voted back in. Although these early Legislative Councils did not appoint ministers of government, from 1954 certain members were allocated ministerial type responsibilities and between 1957 and 1960 Fonseca was the Member for Works and Communications (he may also have held the same post between 1954 and 1957, but the record is unclear). [2]
In 1967 further constitutional change occurred which introduced Ministerial Government and party politics into the British Virgin Islands. The legislators duly banded into political parties, and Fonseca became the head of the newly created People's Own Party. However in the 1967 general election, although Fonseca himself won his seat, it was the only seat his party would win in the seven member Legislative Council, consigning his party to third place behind the BVI United Party and the VI Democratic Party. Fonseca ran again in the 1971 general election, but was defeated by Q. William Osborne. He ran again in 1975, and lost, and then retired from politics.
| Year | District | Party | Votes | Percentage | Winning/losing margin | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | At-large | Non-party election | -- | -- | -- | Won |
| 1954 | 2nd District | Non-party election | -- | -- | -- | Won |
| 1957 | 2nd District | Non-party election | -- | -- | -- | Won |
| 1960 | 2nd District | Non-party election | -- | -- | -- | Won (1st) |
| 1963 | 2nd District | Non-party election | 442 | 35.4% | +232* | Won (1st) |
| 1967 | 5th District | People's Own Party | 195 | 56.4% | +69 | Won |
| 1971 | 4th District | People's Own Party | -- | -- | -- | Lost Q.W. Osborne |
| 1975 | 4th District | Independent | 60 | 12.4% | -228 | Lost A.Anthony |
| * Two members are elected for the second district. Margin of victory is measured against third placed candidate. | ||||||
His Majesty's Government of the Virgin Islands is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of the British Virgin Islands. It is regulated by the Constitution of the British Virgin Islands.
Elections in the British Virgin Islands are conducted to elect members to the House of Assembly. In the British Virgin Islands elections are not conducted in relation to appointments to either the Executive or Judicial branches of Government, and there are no other publicly elected posts in the British Virgin Islands. Most elections are conducted as general elections, which under the Constitution are required to be held every four years, or as by-elections when a member of the House of Assembly dies or steps down. Since the re-introduction of democracy into the British Virgin Islands in 1950 there have been fifteen general elections, and three recorded by-elections. The last election was held on 25 February 2019.
The House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands, until 2007 known as the Legislative Council, has 15 members: 13 directly elected for four-year terms, and two ex officio members.
Politics of the British Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Premier is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The British Virgin Islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the islands on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The Constitution of the Islands was introduced in 1971 and amended in 1979, 1982, 1991, 1994, 2000 and 2007. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.
Snap general elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 17 November 1986. The result was a victory for the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by Chief Minister Lavity Stoutt over the United Party (UP). Subsequent to the election, Ralph T. O'Neal became leader of the opposition despite not being head of the UP.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 1 September 1975. The result was one of the most confused in the Territory's history, but is officially recorded as a victory for the United Party led by Willard Wheatley over the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by former Chief Minister Lavity Stoutt.
The Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands is the collective decision-making body of the British Virgin Islands government. It is composed of the Premier, four other Ministers of Government, and the Attorney General as an ex officio, non-voting, member. The Governor attends and presides over meetings of Cabinet where possible. The Cabinet has responsibility for the formulation of policy, including directing the implementation of such policy, insofar as it relates to every aspect of government, except those matters for which are reserved to the Governor under the Constitution. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the House of Assembly for such policies and their implementation.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 14 April 1967. The election was the first general election after the passing of the new Constitution earlier in the same year, which introduced Ministerial Government into the British Virgin Islands for the first time. Elections under the prior Constitution introduced in 1950 to restore the Legislative Council had merely elected legislators. It is probably fair to say that 1967 marked the introduction of true direct democratic rule in the British Virgin Islands. But, notwithstanding the introduction of Ministerial Government, the resulting Legislative Council is still referred to as the 6th Legislative Council in deference to the five prior Councils elected under the 1950 Constitution.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 27 November 1950, the first after the decision to restore the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands. Four members were elected to the First Legislative Council.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands in 1954 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 11 October 1960 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands.
Conrad Antonio Maduro is a British Virgin Islander politician and longtime leader of the United Party. Remarkably, Conrad Maduro has led his party to victory at three different general elections, but has never been appointed Chief Minister.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 28 November 1963 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands in 1957 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands.
Dr Qwominer William Osborne, OBE was a British Virgin Islander politician and physician.
The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Assembly that is not in government.
Howard Reynold Penn OBE (1903–1994), more commonly known simply as H.R. Penn, was a politician who served during the years immediately after the reintroduction of democracy in the British Virgin Islands in 1950. He was elected as a member of First Legislative Council and continued to serve until his defeat in the 1963 general election.
The Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands is the principal legal adviser to the Government of the British Virgin Islands. Under the Constitution of the British Virgin Islands the Attorney General sits ex officio in both the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands and in the Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands, but is not permitted to vote in either. The Attorney General also sits on the Committee for the Prerogative of Mercy and on the National Security Council.