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General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 2 June 1971. The result was a victory for a coalition of the VI Democratic Party (DP) together with independent candidate Willard Wheatley over the newly formed Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by former Chief Minister Lavity Stoutt, and incumbent BVI United Party (UP) led by Conrad Maduro.
Prior to the election Stoutt had was serving as Chief Minister and leader of the UP, but due to internal divisions Stoutt left and formed his new party to contest the election against the UP and the DP, but ended up losing and being replaced by Wheatley as Chief Minister.
The election was also notable for the first female candidate in a British Virgin Islands election: Millicent Mercer contested the 5th District on behalf of the VIP, but lost to Conrad Maduro.
In the 7th District the former representative, Robinson O'Neal, had died in a car crash the prior year.
Results
| Party | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|
| VI Democratic Party | 3 | +1 | |
| Virgin Islands Party | 2 | New | |
| United Party | 1 | –3 | |
| Independents | 1 | New | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | |
| Source: BVI Deputy Governor's Office[1] | |||
By constituency
| Constituency | Candidates | Party | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st District | H. Lavity Stoutt | Virgin Islands Party | H. Lavity Stoutt |
| Wilfred Smith | United Party | ||
| 2nd District | Austin Henley | VI Democratic Party | Austin Henley |
| Stanford Connor | Independent | ||
| Prince Stoutt | Independent | ||
| Neville Hodge | Independent | ||
| 3rd District | Oliver Cills | VI Democratic Party | Oliver Cills |
| Leopold Smith | Virgin Islands Party | ||
| 4th District | Q. William Osborne | VI Democratic Party | Q. William Osborne |
| I. Glanville Fonseca | POP | ||
| 5th District | Conrad Maduro | United Party | Conrad Maduro |
| Henry Hodge | VI Democratic Party | ||
| Millicent Mercer | Virgin Islands Party | ||
| 6th District | Willard Wheatley | Independent | Willard Wheatley |
| Terrance B. Lettsome | Virgin Islands Party | ||
| 7th District | Reeial George | Virgin Islands Party | Reeial George |
| Ralph T. O'Neal | VI Democratic Party | ||
| Source: BVI Deputy Governor's Office[1] | |||
Appointments
Following the election:[1]
- Willard Wheatley was appointed Chief Minister and Minister for Education
- Oliver Cills was appointed Minister for Communications, Works and Industry
- Q.W. Osborne was appointed Minister for Natural Resources and Public Health
- Lavity Stoutt became the Leader of the Opposition
References
- 1 2 3 "BVI election and information results 1950–2011" (PDF). BVI Deputy Governor's Office. pp. 75–77. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2014.