Premier of the Virgin Islands

Premier of the Virgin Islands
Arms of His Majesty's
British Virgin Islands Government
Incumbent
Natalio Wheatley
since 5 May 2022
StyleThe Honourable
AppointerGovernor of the Virgin Islands
Term lengthAt the governor's pleasure (normally 4 years)
Formation14 April 1967
First holderHamilton Lavity Stoutt
as Chief Minister
WebsiteOffice of the Premier
Politics of the British Virgin Islands
Constitution
Monarchy
Executive
Legislative
Judiciary
Elections
Administrative divisions
Citizenship
Foreign relations

The Premier of the Virgin Islands[1] is the head of government for the British Virgin Islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Premier is appointed by the Governor on behalf of the British monarch, currently King Charles III.[2] Until 2007, the head of government was known as the Chief Minister of the Virgin Islands, but a constitutional change in 2007 renamed the position as Premier.[3]

The current Premier is Natalio Wheatley. He is serving since 5 May 2022.[4]

History of the office

Since the 1967 constitution was adopted, only seven different people (all men) have served as Premier or Chief Minister, and each of them except for Cyril Romney has served at least two full terms. Also, each of them has served as the Leader of the Opposition.

H. Lavity Stoutt won the most general elections of any leader (he won five), followed by Orlando Smith (three). Stoutt, Smith and Willard Wheatley are the only leaders to have served two consecutive full terms (Ralph T. O'Neal also served two consecutive terms, but the first of those was the remaining part of a term after Stoutt's death).

List

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

  UP   VIDP   VIP   NDP
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office[a] Political party Elected Notes
Took office Left office Time in office
Chief Ministers (1967–2007)
1 H. Lavity Stoutt
(1929–1995) 		14 April 1967 2 June 1971 4 years, 49 days United Party 1967 First tenure
2 Willard Wheatley
(1915–1997) 		2 June 1971 12 November 1979 8 years, 163 days VI Democratic Party 1971
1975
(2) United Party[b]
(1) H. Lavity Stoutt
(1929–1995) 		12 November 1979 11 November 1983 3 years, 364 days Virgin Islands Party 1979 Second tenure
3 Cyril Romney
(1931–2007) 		11 November 1983 17 November 1986 3 years, 6 days United Party 1983
(1) H. Lavity Stoutt
(1929–1995) 		17 November 1986 14 May 1995 8 years, 178 days Virgin Islands Party 1986
1990
1995 		Third tenure. Died in office
4 Ralph T. O'Neal
(1933–2019) 		15 May 1995 17 June 2003 8 years, 33 days Virgin Islands Party 1999
5 D. Orlando Smith
(born 1944) 		17 June 2003 23 August 2007 4 years, 67 days National Democratic Party 2003
Premiers (2007–present)
1 Ralph T. O'Neal
(1933–2019) 		23 August 2007 9 November 2011 4 years, 78 days Virgin Islands Party 2007
2 D. Orlando Smith
(born 1944) 		9 November 2011 25 February 2019 7 years, 108 days National Democratic Party 2011
2015
3 Andrew Fahie
(born 1970) 		26 February 2019 5 May 2022 3 years, 69 days Virgin Islands Party 2019
4 Natalio Wheatley
(born 1980) 		5 May 2022 Incumbent 1 year, 349 days Virgin Islands Party 2023

All previous Chief Ministers or Premiers have served at least two terms except for Cyril Romney and Andrew Fahie.

№ Name General Election
victories 		Total time in office
(days)
1 Lavity Stoutt 5 6,117
2 Ralph O'Neal 2 4,494
3 Orlando Smith 3 4,194
4 Willard Wheatley 2 3,085
5 Andrew Fahie 1 1,164
6 Cyril Romney 1 1,055
7 Natalio Wheatley 1 714

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Duration of terms are calculated as commencing on the date of the election; not the actual subsequent date of appointment by the Governor, which is usually a few days later.
  2. ^ Wheatley led a coalition of himself plus the VI Democratic Party in the 1971 election and then another coalition of himself plus the United Party in the 1975 election.

References

  1. ^ While the territory is commonly known as the 'British Virgin Islands', her official name is simply 'Virgin Islands'.
  2. ^ The Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007 Archived 22 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine (SI 2007/1678)
  3. ^ The Virgin Islands (Constitution) Order 1976 Archived 2009-05-03 at the Wayback Machine (SI 1976/2145), as amended by 1979/1603, 1982/151, 1991/2871 and 1994/1638
  4. ^ "Dr Wheatley sworn in as Premier! New cross-party gov't also installed". BVINews. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Premier_of_the_Virgin_Islands&oldid=1218978607"