1999 British Virgin Islands general election

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| ← 1995 | 17 May 1999 (1999-05-17) | 2003 →

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13 of the 15 seats in the House of Assembly
7 seats needed for a majority
|   | First party  | Second party

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|  |
Leader  | Orlando Smith | Ralph T. O'Neal
Party  | NDP | VIP
Last election  | –  | 30.15%, 6 seats
Seats won  | 5  | 7
Seat change  | New |  1
Popular vote  | 9,126  | 8,790
Percentage  | 38.14%  | 36.74%

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| Chief Minister before election

Ralph T. O'Neal
VIP

| Chief Minister after election

Ralph T. O'Neal
VIP

|

General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 17 May 1999. The result was a victory for the incumbent Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by Chief Minister Ralph T. O'Neal over the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP) led by Orlando Smith.

The elections marked the emergence of the NDP, the first serious opposition to the VIP since the collapse of the United Party in the aftermath of Cyril Romney's resignation as Chief Minister in 1986. They were also the first elections in the territory since 1954 in which Lavity Stoutt, a dominant political force in the British Virgin Islands did not participate and the first in which no independent candidates were elected.[1]

## Results

[edit]

The election was largely decided in three key seats: the Third District (which Julian Fraser carried for the VIP by 26 votes), the Sixth District (which Omar Hodge carried for the VIP by 12 votes) and the Eighth District (which Lloyd Black carried for the NDP by 11 votes, with the crucial Penn family votes being split between Andre (running as an independent) and David (running for the VIP) – most years a member of the Penn family wins the Eighth District). The At-large seats were split equally between the two main parties. Ethlyn Smith won the Fifth District for the minority party, the Concerned Citizens Movement, where the second placed candidate was former Chief Minister running as an independent, Cyril Romney.

Although the overall vote count was flattering to the NDP this was because they polled well in the At-large seats (where each voter casts four votes). But most of the Territorial seats were not that competitive, with the VIP winning some seats with huge majorities, the largest being Alvin Christopher's thumping 80.2% of the vote in the Second District. Conversely, Julian Fraser won his seat in the Third District with the smallest mandate of any candidate – just 228 votes in a three-way contest with a low voter turnout.

Notable candidates who were elected to the Legislature for the first time included future Chief Minister and Premier, Orlando Smith; future Deputy Premier and Minister Kedrick Pickering; future Minister Andrew Fahie; and future Minister and Leader of the Opposition Julian Fraser. Conversely, Walwyn Brewley suffered the first electoral defeat of his career, and would thereafter choose to end his political career at this point.

Party| District| At-large| Total
seats| +/–

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|
|
|

Votes| %| Seats| Votes| %| Seats
| National Democratic Party| 2,044| 32.67| 3| 9,126| 38.14| 2| 5| New
| Virgin Islands Party| 2,649| 42.34| 5| 8,790| 36.74| 2| 7| +1
| United Party| 400| 6.39| 0| 1,923| 8.04| 0| 0| –2
| Concerned Citizens Movement| 536| 8.57| 1| 670| 2.80| 0| 1| –1
| Independents| 627| 10.02| 0| 3,418| 14.29| 0| 0| –3
Speaker and Attorney General| | | 2| 0
Total| 6,256| 100.00| 9| 23,927| 100.00| 4| 15| 0
Valid votes| 6,256| 98.15| | 6,069| 98.76| |
Invalid/blank votes| 118| 1.85| | 76| 1.24| |
Total votes| 6,374| 100.00| | 6,145| 100.00| |
Registered voters/turnout| 9,523| 66.93| | 9,523| 64.53| |
Source: Elections in the Virgin Islands

### District seats

[edit]

1st DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Andrew Fahie| Virgin Islands Party| 528| 78.92
| Elvin O. Stoutt| Independent| 141| 21.08
Total| 669| 100.00
Valid votes| 669| 97.38
Invalid/blank votes| 18| 2.62
Total votes| 687| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,140| 60.26
2nd DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Alvin Christopher| Virgin Islands Party| 484| 80.94
| Enriquito Rhymer| National Democratic Party| 114| 19.06
Total| 598| 100.00
Valid votes| 598| 99.17
Invalid/blank votes| 5| 0.83
Total votes| 603| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,023| 58.94
3rd DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Julian Fraser| Virgin Islands Party| 228| 39.45
| Michael Thomas| National Democratic Party| 202| 34.95
| Maxwell Smith| BVI United Party| 148| 25.61
Total| 578| 100.00
Valid votes| 578| 97.31
Invalid/blank votes| 16| 2.69
Total votes| 594| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 914| 64.99
4th DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Mark Vanterpool| National Democratic Party| 453| 61.80
| Walwyn Brewley| Concerned Citizens Movement| 258| 35.20
| Gregory Hodge| BVI United Party| 22| 3.00
Total| 733| 100.00
Valid votes| 733| 97.99
Invalid/blank votes| 15| 2.01
Total votes| 748| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,091| 68.56
5th DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Ethlyn Eugenie Smith| Concerned Citizens Movement| 278| 38.56
| Cyril Romney| Independent| 233| 32.32
| Hugo Vanterpool| Virgin Islands Party| 160| 22.19
| Ulric Scatliffe| BVI United Party| 50| 6.93
Total| 721| 100.00
Valid votes| 721| 98.36
Invalid/blank votes| 12| 1.64
Total votes| 733| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,202| 60.98
6th DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Omar Hodge| Virgin Islands Party| 367| 46.28
| Elvis Harrigan| National Democratic Party| 355| 44.77
| Edmund Maduro| BVI United Party| 71| 8.95
Total| 793| 100.00
Valid votes| 793| 98.02
Invalid/blank votes| 16| 1.98
Total votes| 809| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,174| 68.91
7th DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Kedrick Pickering| National Democratic Party| 356| 62.24
| Collingston George| BVI United Party| 109| 19.06
| Birton Lettsome| Virgin Islands Party| 107| 18.71
Total| 572| 100.00
Valid votes| 572| 97.61
Invalid/blank votes| 14| 2.39
Total votes| 586| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 812| 72.17
8th DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Lloyd Black| National Democratic Party| 264| 39.11
| Andre JJ Penn| Independent| 253| 37.48
| David A. Penn| Virgin Islands Party| 158| 23.41
Total| 675| 100.00
Valid votes| 675| 98.83
Invalid/blank votes| 8| 1.17
Total votes| 683| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 928| 73.60
9th DistrictCandidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Ralph T. O'Neal| Virgin Islands Party| 617| 67.28
| Hubert O'Neal| National Democratic Party| 300| 32.72
Total| 917| 100.00
Valid votes| 917| 98.50
Invalid/blank votes| 14| 1.50
Total votes| 931| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,239| 75.14

### At-large seats

[edit]

Candidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Orlando Smith| National Democratic Party| 3,094| 12.93
| Reeial George| Virgin Islands Party| 3,015| 12.60
| Ronnie Skelton| National Democratic Party| 2,675| 11.18
| Eileene Parsons| Virgin Islands Party| 2,288| 9.56
| Paul Wattley| National Democratic Party| 1,897| 7.93
| Irene Penn-O'Neal| Virgin Islands Party| 1,835| 7.67
| Roy Pickering| Virgin Islands Party| 1,652| 6.90
| Delores Christopher| National Democratic Party| 1,460| 6.10
| Alred Frett| Independent| 1,457| 6.09
| Neil Blyden| Independent| 919| 3.84
| Conrad Maduro| BVI United Party| 723| 3.02
| Keith L. Flax| Independent| 537| 2.24
| Merritt Herbert| BVI United Party| 505| 2.11
| Charles Mercer| BVI United Party| 451| 1.88
| Carl Dawson| Concerned Citizens Movement| 345| 1.44
| Betteto Frett| Concerned Citizens Movement| 325| 1.36
| Edison O'Neal| BVI United Party| 244| 1.02
| Fletcher Scatliffe| Independent| 209| 0.87
| Eileene Baronville| Independent| 199| 0.83
| Noel Lloyd| Independent| 97| 0.41
Total| 23,927| 100.00
Valid votes| 6,069| 98.76
Invalid/blank votes| 76| 1.24
Total votes| 6,145| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 9,523| 64.53

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Constitutional & Political Development in the Virgin Islands 1950–2000". House of Assembly (website). Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.

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