2017 Falkland Islands general election

The Falkland Islands general election of 2017 was held on Thursday 9 November 2017[1] to elect all eight members of the Legislative Assembly (five from the Stanley constituency and three from the Camp constituency) through universal suffrage using block voting, with each Stanley constituent having up to 5 votes and each Camp constituent having up to 3 votes. Voter turnout was 80% in Stanley and 86% in Camp.[2]

2017 Falkland Islands general election

9 November 2017 (9 November 2017)
All 8 members to the legislative assembly 5 seats needed for a majority
Majority party   Party Nonpartisan Seats won 8
Winning and losing candidates by constituency.

It was the third election since the new Constitution came into force replacing the Legislative Council (which had existed since 1845) with the Legislative Assembly. As no political parties are active in the Falklands, all the candidates stood as Independents. Incumbent members Jan Cheek, Michael Poole, Phyllis Rendell and Mike Summers did not put their names forward for reelection.[3] Only three members of the previous assembly won reelection, with Ian Hansen being the only incumbent member to increase his percentage of the vote.[2]

Campaign

Under section 32 of the Constitution of the Falkland Islands, a general election did not need to take place until 19 January 2018. However, in August 2017 the Legislative Assembly announced that an early general election was being planned for 9 November 2017 (almost exactly four years after the previous general election of 2013).[1] The closing date for voter registration and applications for postal and proxy votes was noon FKST on 19 October 2017 and the deadline for nomination as a candidate in the election was 16:15 FKST on 20 October 2017.[1]

As well as attending hustings, each candidate gave a fifteen-minute televised interview to former member of the Legislative Assembly, Richard Cockwell, which was broadcast on the Falkland Islands Television Service.[4]

The election was criticised by the Governor of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province, Rosana Bertone, who described the vote as an 'illegitimate legislative electoral act' and stated that the only 'legitimate' legislators for the islands were those elected in 2015 to the Legislature of Tierra del Fuego province, under whose jurisdiction the Falklands fall according to Argentina's sovereignty claim to the Islands.[5]

Results

Incumbent members are in italics.

Stanley constituency

Stanley[2]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±
	Nonpartisan	Roger Kenneth Spink	651	14.98	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Leona Lucila Vidal Roberts	559	12.86	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Mark John Pollard	534	12.29	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Stacy John Bragger	476	10.95	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Barry Elsby	404	9.30	-9.50
	Nonpartisan	Gavin Phillip Short	382	8.79	-8.98
	Nonpartisan	David Patrick Peck	376	8.65	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Corina Rose Ashbridge	259	5.96	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Louise Ellis	232	5.34	N/A
	Nonpartisan	John Birmingham	221	5.09	-0.91
	Nonpartisan	Jason Lewis	97	2.23	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Marvin Thomas Clarke	90	2.07	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Carole Lynda Jane Buckland	65	1.50	N/A
Turnout			4346	80	+4.6

Camp constituency

Camp[2]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±
	Nonpartisan	Ian Hansen	149	27.29	+8.18
	Nonpartisan	Teslyn Siobhan Barkman	139	25.46	N/A[nb 1]
	Nonpartisan	Roger Anthony Edwards	130	23.81	-0.19
	Nonpartisan	Benjamin William Cockwell	128	23.44	N/A
Turnout			546	86	+0.8

Notes

1. Barkman unsuccessfully stood for the Stanley constituency at the 2013 election.

References

1. "Falklands' preparations and registration for November 9 General Election". MercoPress. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
2. "Falkland Islands Elects New Legislative Assembly". MercoPress. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
3. "17 candidates finally declare". Penguin News. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
4. General Election 2017: Meet the Candidates playlist on YouTube
5. "Bertone y un mensaje a los isleños: "Ellos son los únicos legisladores de las islas"" [Bertone and a message to the islanders: "They are the only legislators on the islands"]. CriticaSur (in Spanish). 9 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017. Given the illegitimate electoral legislative act that is being developed in the Malvinas Islands, I want to emphasise that the only and legitimate legislators of the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands were elected on 21 June 2015...