British Virgin Islands general election, 2015

2015 British Virgin Islands general election

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June 8, 2015 (2015-06-08)

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All seats in the British Virgin Islands House of Assembly
7 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Orlando Smith	Julian Fraser	Alvin Christopher
Party	National Democratic Party	Virgin Islands Party	People's Empowerment Party
Leader since	1999	2014	2014
Leader's seat	At-large	3rd District	At-large
Last election	9 seats, 52.5%	4 seats, 39.0%	0 seats, 0.0%
Seats before	9	3	1
Seats won	11	2	0
Seat change	+2	-1	-1
Popular vote	27,070	13,601	1,786
Percentage	60.2%	30.2%	4.0%

Premier before election

Orlando Smith
National Democratic Party

Elected Premier

Orlando Smith
National Democratic Party

The British Virgin Islands general election, 2015 was a general election held in the British Virgin Islands on 8 June 2015 to elect members to the House of Assembly. The result was a landslide victory for the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP) over the opposition Virgin Islands Party (VIP). No minor parties or independent candidates won any seats. Unusually, every single incumbent candidate who stood in their original seat was victorious.

The supervisor of elections was Juliette Penn. Prior to polling day, the VIP had complained to Governor John Duncan of alleged irregularities relating to the conduct advance polling day. In a statement the supervisor of elections acknowledged irregularities, but indicated that they were of a minor and technical nature, and were swiftly rectified once noticed. The report of the international Election Observer Mission noted that the election "was peaceful and vibrant and saw high levels of public engagement."

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

Former Premier, Ralph T. O'Neal, had warned of the possibility of the Government calling a snap election. President of the opposition Virgin Islands Party, Carvin Malone, had predicted an election on 6 or 13 July 2015. Although it became common parlance to refer to the election as a "snap" election in local media, 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, and all parties claimed that they had anticipated the announcement.

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