The Leader of the Opposition (officially the Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the British Virgin Islands) is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Assembly that is not in government.
Under the Constitution the Governor is required to appoint a member of the House of Assembly recommended by a majority of the elected members of the House who are members of any opposition party whose numerical strength in the House is greater than that of any other opposition party, or if no such person exists, the member of the House of Assembly who in the judgement of the Governor is best able to command the support of the members of the House in opposition to the Government.[1]
Prior to the introduction of the current Constitution, which codified the position, the Leader of the Opposition, by convention, led the largest party which is not part of the government: where one party wins outright this is the party leader of the second largest political party in the House of Assembly. However, in 1990 Cyril Romney was appointed Leader of the Opposition as an Independent and in 1995 Walwyn Brewley was appointed despite leading the party with the third largest number of seats. The Leader of the Opposition is normally viewed as an alternative Premier.
On 27 April 2023 Ronnie Skelton was appointed as the most recent leader of the opposition.[2]
Overview
To date a total of fourteen people (all men) have served as Leader of the Opposition - over twice the number who have served as Premier or Chief Minister. Every person who has served as Chief Minister or Premier has also served as Leader of the Opposition at some point. No person has ever served consecutive terms as Leader of the Opposition.
On five occasions has the Leader of the Opposition changed between elections:
In 1977, when Austin Henley died.
In 1988, when Ralph O'Neal left the United Party to join the Government.
In 2014, whilst Ralph O'Neal was Leader of the Opposition he stepped down as leader of the Virgin Islands Party in favour of Julian Fraser. However O'Neal remained the official Leader of the Opposition under the Territory's constitution until he stood down in subsequent general election in June 2015. In that election only two members of the opposition Virgin Islands Party won their seats - Julian Fraser and Andrew Fahie. Subsequently Fraser and Fahie argued over who should be named as Leader of the Opposition;[4] Fahie believed he commanded majority support within the party and should take over as party leader following the general election defeat.[5] As the Constitution required that the Leader of the Opposition commanded a support of the "majority" of the opposition members,[1] and the only two opposition members disagreed, there was an impasse. Governor John Duncan gave the men a month to resolve their differences, but they were unable to do so, and eventually the Governor appointed Fraser as the official Leader of the Opposition.[6] Fahie would later oust Fraser as party leader, and would then be appointed as Leader of the Opposition in his stead.[7]
Leaders of the Opposition from 1967
Prior to 1967 politicians were not elected on a party political basis, and thus Leaders of the Opposition only came into being with the introduction of party politics and Ministerial rule after the 1967 general election.
The following is a list of the Leaders of the Opposition in the British Virgin Islands from 1967 to date.
Leaders of the Opposition in the British Virgin Islands[8]
↑ "Fraser Appointed Opposition Leader". BVI Platinum. 21 July 2015. [S]everal of the party's losing candidates have written to the Governor to support Hon. Fahie as the Leader of the Opposition.
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.
Daniel Orlando Smith, OBE 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 Virgin Islands from 2003 to 2007. He first won the office when his National Democratic Party won the 2003 general election, being the party's first victory at a general election in its history.
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 Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is a political party in the British Virgin Islands. It is presently led by Natalio Wheatley. 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.
Ralph Telford O'Neal, OBE was a British Virgin Islander politician. He was the longest ever serving elected representative in the British Virgin Islands, and served as Chief Minister or Premier of the British Virgin Islands for three terms.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 20 August 2007. The result was a landslide victory for the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP) over the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP).
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.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 7 November 2011. The result was a decisive victory for the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP) led by Orlando Smith over the incumbent Virgin Islands Party (VIP), led by Premier Ralph T. O'Neal. No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats.
Julian Fraser is a British Virgin Islander politician who formerly belonged to the opposition Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands, and in August 2018 formed a new party, Progressives United.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 8 June 2015 to elect members to the House of Assembly. The result was a landslide victory for the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP) over the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP). No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats. Unusually, every single incumbent candidate who stood in their original seat was victorious.
J. Alvin Christopher, is a politician who presently serves as leader of the People's Empowerment Party in the British Virgin Islands. He is not currently a member of the House of Assembly, but was the longstanding elected member for the second district, a position which he held from the 1995 general election until the 2015 general election.
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 25 February 2019. For the first time, four parties with at least one incumbent member were contesting an election.
Andrew Alturo Fahie 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 2016 to 2022.
Events from the year 2017 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2018 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2019 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2020 in the British Virgin Islands.
Events from the year 2022 in the British Virgin Islands.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 24 April 2023. The governing Virgin Islands Party (VIP) remained the largest party in the House of Assembly but lost its majority resulting in a hung parliament.
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