1963 British Virgin Islands general election


The British Virgin Islands general election, 1963 was a general election held in the British Virgin Islands on 28 November 1963 for seats on the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands.
For the general election the Territory was divided into five districts, the largest of which would have two members. All seats were contested.
The Supervisor of Elections was Ralph T. O'Neal.

Results

At the time candidates were not affiliated with political parties. Notable candidates elected for the first time included future Leader of the Opposition, Q.W. Osborne, and future Minister, Terrance B. Lettsome.
ConstituencyCandidates electedVotesPercentage
1st DistrictH. Lavity Stoutt21568.0%
1st DistrictEdward Stoutt10132.0%
1st DistrictTotal316100.0%
2nd District
Isaac G. Fonseca44235.4%
2nd District
Arnando Scatliffe 23919.1%
2nd District
Ivan Hodge21016.8%
2nd District
Stanford Connor18614.9%
2nd District
H.R. Penn17313.8%
2nd District
Total1,250100.0%
3rd DistrictIvan Dawson12251.7%
3rd DistrictChristopher G. Wellington11448.3%
3rd DistrictTotal236100.0%
4th DistrictTerrance B. Lettsome19452.7%
4th DistrictLeslie F. Malone17447.3%
4th DistrictTotal368100.0%
5th DistrictQ. William Osborne25273.5%
5th DistrictIrvin George9126.5%
5th DistrictTotal343100.0%

The 1963 election essentially served as a prelude to the introduction of Ministerial government in the next election in 1967. The three most prominent politicians elected, Lavity Stoutt, Q.W. Osborne and Ivan Dawson went on to form political parties in 1967 to contest the election once party politics was introduced to the jurisdiction.

Appointments

Prior to 1967 there were no Ministerial appointments in the British Virgin Islands, but elected politicians did undertake certain Ministerial type responsibilities. Subsequent to the election, Lavity Stoutt was appointed Member for Communications and Works, and Ivan Dawson was appointed Member for Trade and Production.

Footnotes