Dr Qwominer William Osborne, OBE (usually referred to as Q.W. Osborne or William Osborne) was a politician and physician in the British Virgin Islands.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking office in government. Politicians propose, support and create laws or policies that govern the land and, by extension, its people. Broadly speaking, a "politician" can be anyone who seeks to achieve political power in any bureaucratic institution.
A physician, medical practitioner, medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a professional who practises medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining, or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments. Physicians may focus their practice on certain disease categories, types of patients, and methods of treatment—known as specialities—or they may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families, and communities—known as general practice. Medical practice properly requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic disciplines, such as anatomy and physiology, underlying diseases and their treatment—the science of medicine—and also a decent competence in its applied practice—the art or craft of medicine.
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His political career started in the 1963 general election, when he was elected to the seat for the 5th District. [1] Prior to 1967 elections to the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands were on a non-party basis, and legislators who were elected governed collectively.
The British Virgin Islands general election, 1963 was a general election held in the British Virgin Islands on 28 November 1963 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands.
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.
However, the 1967 general election introduced party politics into the British Virgin Islands, and Osborne founded and became leader of the VI Democratic Party. Ultimately that party would come second in the election to the BVI United Party led by Lavity Stoutt. Osborne thereby became the first ever Leader of the Opposition in the British Virgin Islands. [2]
The British Virgin Islands general election, 1967 was 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.
The VI Democratic Party is a now defunct political party of the British Virgin Islands.
The United Party is a now defunct political party of the British Virgin Islands.
In the subsequent 1971 general election led his party to the highest number of overall seats, but short of an outright majority. Faced with potentially ruling as a minority government, he formed a coalition with independent candidate Willard Wheatley. [3] However, Wheatley required that he be made Chief Minister, and Osborne agreed. Osborne was appointed Minister for Natural Resources and Public Health.
The British Virgin Islands general election, 1971 was held in the British Virgin Islands on 2 June 1971. The result was a victory for a coalition of the VI Democratic Party (DP) together with independent candidate Willard Wheatley over the newly formed Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by former Chief Minister Lavity Stoutt, and incumbent BVI United Party (UP) led by Conrad Maduro.
A minority government, minority cabinet or minority parliament is a cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament. It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, to enable a government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support of enough other members of the legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In bicameral parliaments, the term relates to the situation in chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government.
Willard Wheatley, MBE, LLD was an 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 Minister of the Territory, and the first ever minister of finance. He served as Chief Minister at the head of two different coalition governments: one as de facto leader of the United Party, and the other the VI Democratic Party.
The subsequent administration appeared not to be a happy one, possibly driven apart by Osborne's own desire to be Chief Minister[ citation needed ]. Wheatley removed Osborne from his Ministerial post in 1972. The VI Democratic Party splintered, and officially offered no contestants in the 1975 general election. [4] Osborne stood as an independent candidate and was re-elected. [5] Willard Wheatley threw his lot in with the BVI United Party and won, forming a new coalition government and remaining as Chief Minister.
The British Virgin Islands general election, 1975 was 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.
Osborne ran again in the 1979 general election, but was easily defeated by Cyril Romney and retired for the first time. [6] In that election he was the only candidate who stood for the VI Democratic Party (by then referred to simply as the Democratic Party), and after his defeat the party ceased to exist. Osborne would later come out of retirement to run one more time, in 1986, but garnered barely any electoral support and lost by a wide margin.
The British Virgin Islands general election, 1979 was held in the British Virgin Islands on 12 November 1979. The result was a victory for the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by former Chief Minister Lavity Stoutt over the incumbent United Party (UP) led by Willard Wheatley. The a newly formed party, the Virgin Islands National Movement (VINM), led by Elvin Stoutt, also contested the election but did not win any seats.
Cyril Brandtford Romney served as Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 1983 to 1986. He also served as a member of the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands from 1979 to 1995. He was the first BVIslander to hold the post of Financial Secretary, and was also a business leader in the Territory and the region.
