Premier of the Virgin Islands

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 Queen Elizabeth II.[2] Until 2007, the head of government was known as the Chief Minister.[3]

Premier of the Virgin Islands
Arms of Her Majesty's British Virgin Islands Government
Incumbent Andrew Fahie since 26 February 2019
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor of the Virgin Islands
Term length	At the Governor's pleasure (normally 4 years)
Formation	14 April 1967
First holder	Hamilton Lavity Stoutt as Chief Minister
Website	Office of the Premier

Up until 2007 the office was known as Chief Minister of the Virgin Islands, but a constitutional change in 2007 renamed the position as Premier.

The current Premier is Andrew Fahie. He is serving since 26 February 2019.[4]

History of the office

Since the 1967 constitution was adopted, only six 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)

№	Name (Birth–Death)	Tenure[5]		Political Affiliation	Notes
		Took Office	Left Office
Chief Ministers (1967–2007)
1	H. Lavity Stoutt (1929–1995)	14 April 1967	2 June 1971	United Party	First tenure
2	Willard Wheatley (1915–1997)	2 June 1971	12 November 1979	VI Democratic Party
(2)				United Party[6]
(1)	H. Lavity Stoutt (1929–1995)	12 November 1979	11 November 1983	Virgin Islands Party	Second tenure
3	Cyril Romney (1931–2007)	11 November 1983	17 November 1986	United Party
(1)	H. Lavity Stoutt (1929–1995)	17 November 1986	14 May 1995	Virgin Islands Party	Third tenure. Died in office
4	Ralph T. O'Neal (1933–2019)	15 May 1995	17 June 2003	Virgin Islands Party	First tenure
5	D. Orlando Smith (1944–)	17 June 2003	23 August 2007	National Democratic Party	First tenure
Premiers (2007–present)
1	Ralph T. O'Neal (1933–2019)	23 August 2007	9 November 2011	Virgin Islands Party	Second tenure
2	D. Orlando Smith (1944–)	9 November 2011	25 February 2019	National Democratic Party	Second tenure
3	Andrew Fahie (1970–)	26 February 2019	Incumbent	Virgin Islands Party	First tenure

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

№	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	Cyril Romney	1	1,055
6	Andrew Fahie	1	537 (Incumbent, continuing)

See also

• List of current heads of government in the United Kingdom and dependencies
• Politics of the British Virgin Islands
• Governor of the Virgin Islands

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. "Andrew Fahie sworn in as Premier". BVI News. 26 February 2019.
5. 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.
6. 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.

Further reading