At stake in this election:

•        The 13 elected seats of the House of Assembly*

*Formerly called the Legislative Council

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II *
• Head of Government: Premier D. Orlando SMITH
• Assembly: British Virgin Islands has a unicameral House of Assembly** with 15 seats.

* The queen is represented by Governor John DUNCAN.

***Formerly called the Legislative Council

Description of electoral system:

• The Queen is hereditary head of state.
• Premier is appointed by the governor-general.
• In the House of Assembly, 9 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms, 4 members are elected in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 2 members are filled ex officio to serve 4-year terms.***

*** Of the 13 members, one member is elected from each of 9 electoral districts and there are four at-large members. Each voter has 5 votes. The Speaker and Attorney General serve ex officio.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: National Democratic Party (NDP)
• Leader: Orlando Smith
• Seats won in last election: 9
• Party: Virgin Islands Party
• Leader: Julian Fraser
• Seats won in last election: 4

Last election:

•        The last election for the Legislative Council was held on 7 November 2011.  There were 13,352 registered voters for the election.  The National Democratic Party won 9 seats (of 13) or 48.90% of the vote, the Virgin Islands Party won 4 seats (43.34% of the vote), and independents won 0 seats (7.76% of the vote). 

Population and number of registered voters:

•        Population: 32,680[1]

•        Registered Voters: N/A

Gender Data:

•        Female Population: 16,994[2]

•        Are the British Virgin Islands a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (22 July 1981)

•        Have the British Virgin Islands ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 April 1986)

•        Gender Quota: No

•        Female Candidates in this election: Yes

•        Number of Female Legislators: 2 (15%) of 13 seats in the Legislative Council

•        Human Development Index (HDI) Position: N/A

•        Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

•        Are the British Virgin Islands a signatory to CRPD: N/A[3]

•        Have the British Virgin Islands ratified CRPD: N/A[4]

•        Population with a disability: 4,787[5]