2015 British Virgin Islands general election

The second sitting of the House of Assembly was dissolved for the election on 1 May 2015,[8] but the election date was not announced until 6 May 2015.[1]

Former Premier, Ralph T. O'Neal, had warned of the possibility of the Government calling a snap election.[9] President of the opposition Virgin Islands Party, Carvin Malone, had predicted an election on 6 or 13 July 2015.[10] Although it became common parlance to refer to the election as a "snap" election in local media,[11] it is not entirely clear that it was. The ruling party announced candidates for an "upcoming election" over a month prior to dissolution of the House,[12] and all parties claimed that they had anticipated the announcement.[9][13]

Former Premier Ralph O'Neal stepped down and did not contest the 2015 election, the first general election he has not contested since 1967.[9] He was the longest serving politician in the Territory's history, and had held the seat for Virgin Gorda and Anegada (now the 9th district, originally the 7th district) continuously since 1975.

Although political dynasties have not been a large feature of British Virgin Islands politics, the 2015 election witnessed descendants of each of the first three Chief Ministers of the Territory standing for office. Lavity Stoutt's son, Preston, ran in the first district as an independent candidate. Willard Wheatley's grandson, Natalio, ran at-large for the People's Empowerment Party, and Cyril Romney's daughter, JoAnne, ran in the fourth district for the Virgin Islands Party. However each of those candidates eventually lost their election bid by some distance.

The 2015 also saw the largest number of female candidates in the Territory's history.[14] The NDP fielded three female candidates, the VIP fielded six, the PEP fielded one female candidate, and two of the declared independent candidates were female.

The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), led by Premier Orlando Smith, sought to defend its majority in the House. They were opposed by the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP), led by former Minister Julian Fraser. The NDP and the VIP each fielded a full slate of 13 candidates. Two minority parties also contested the election: the People's Empowerment Party (PEP), led by sitting member of the House, Alvin Christopher, which fielded 5 candidates; and the Progressive Coalition Movement (PCM) which fielded 3 candidates in total.

In addition, a number of independent candidates have declared an intention to stand, including three in the 9th District. The most notable of these was former Deputy Premier, Dancia Penn.[15] Only one candidate had been elected in the British Virgin Islands in the past 20 years running as an independent (Alvin Christopher).

The election was noted for its highly negative tenor. A post-election report released afterwards by the Election Observer Mission to the Virgin Islands stated that voters described the 2015 campaign as the most negative they had ever witnessed.[7] The report noted: "This consisted of personal attacks and accusations, criticism and allegations of past performance of opponents and inflammatory and defamatory rhetoric, rather than a positive discussion of the major political issues. With a proliferation of partisan politics, these stakeholders noted a heightened divisiveness of the campaign, both for society at-large and within families."[7]

Even before the election had actually been called there were complaints about the nature of party political media advertisements, and allegations of using smear tactics.[16] There were allegations in the press of use of drones to follow candidates and film their movements,[17] and political parties were accused of abusing powers of patronage and acting like "gangs".[18]

On the day upon which the House of Assembly was dissolved for the election, the opposition Virgin Islands Party circulated documents which they claimed meant that the Minister for Education Myron Walwyn should have been stripped of his seat for failing to disclose his interest in companies which secured Government contracts.[19][20]

Very little campaigning focused on specific issues or ideology, and most candidates campaigned on a mixture of core competency and criticising past performance of opponents. Numerous candidates indulged in vague and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against rivals.[21][22] Most election speeches promised further development projects,[23][24][25][26] and addressing the increasing cost of living was also a common theme.[27][28] The VIP suggested potentially addressing cost of living through introducing price controls.[29] Campaigns also produced fairly routine promises of political patronage,[30][31] and pandering to xenophobia.[32][33] At the same time, at least one politician spoke of the need for nationality laws to be reformed so that children born in the Territory would be Virgin Islanders with full equality.[34]

The Government was criticised for signing a number of no-bid petty contracts with various local businesses in the last few days before the voting,[35][36] although such practices are relatively commonplace in the British Virgin Islands.

The ruling National Democratic Party won in convincing fashion, and had secured victory early in the night solely on the basis of the district seats (results for the at-large seats take longer to count and normally only come in the next day). In the event, the NDP won all four at-large seats as well to complete a landslide victory, becoming the first party to win back-to-back elections in the British Virgin Islands since the Virgin Islands Party achieved the feat in the 1999 general election. The NDP's margin of victory (9 seats) and share of the total votes cast (60.2%) were both records for an election.

As leader of the party with the largest number of overall seats, Orlando Smith was appointed premier and invited to form a government under the Constitution. He announced an unchanged cabinet, stating "in order to finish the work that have we started, the ministerial architecture will remain in tact [sic], that is, Ministers will remain with their assigned portfolios."[39]

Accordingly, the post-election cabinet will remain:

Subsequent to the election, Julian Fraser as leader of the VIP congratulated his opponents and pledged to work with the elected Government.[41] Dr Smith echoed those sentiments on behalf of the NDP.[42] Natalio Wheatley gave a statement on behalf of the PEP pledging to continue the work of the party despite its failure at the polls.[43] Leading independent candidate and former Deputy Premier Dancia Penn also made a statement expressing her disappointment about how bitter and divisive the campaign was, and expressing a hope the politicians would show "more unity, fairness, respect and dignity and that they can build a happier and more harmonious country together."[44]

Shortly after the election fresh rumours began to circulate about Dr Smith's possible retirement, and once against Dr Smith spoke to scotch the rumours.[45] Dr Smith turned 71 a couple of months after the election.

After the election political commentators also weighed in on possible reasons for the scale of the VIP's defeat. Suggested reasons included:

• The formation of the PEP by Alvin Christopher, which split off part the VIP's traditional political base, and took away crucial votes.
• The fracture of the party with Dancia Penn (who at one time was Deputy Premier and was rumoured to be Ralph O'Neal's favoured successor to the party leadership until her defeat in the 2011 general election).
• Lack of veteran leadership. In addition to losing Alvin Christopher and Dancia Penn, Omar Hodge decided not to run again. As a result, an astonishing eight of the VIP's thirteen candidates were contesting their first ever election.
• The personal unpopularity of newly appointed party leader, Julian Fraser.[46]
• Poor candidate selection. Irene Penn-O'Neal was facing gun possession charges whilst running as a candidate[47] (she was subsequently acquitted[48]). Charmaine Rosan Bunbury had been interdicted as Magistrate.[49] Rajah Smith was put up as a token candidate in the second district where he has no real ties, and garnered a mere 22 votes.

After the election the embarrassment for the VIP continued when the two elected candidates (Julian Fraser and Andrew Fahie) were unable to agree which of them should be appointed Leader of the Opposition (each candidate preferring themselves).[50] Governor John Duncan indicated that if no consensus was reached by 20 July 2015 then he would take appropriate advice and choose himself from the available candidates. No consensus was reached, and so the Governor appointed Fraser as opposition leader.[51]