Willard Wheatley MBE (16 July 1915 – 22 January 1997) was a British Virgin Islands educator and politician who served two consecutive terms as the Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 1971 to 1979. He was the second ever Chief Minister of the Territory, and the first ever minister of finance. He served as Chief Minister at the head of two different coalition governments: one as de facto leader of the United Party, and the other the VI Democratic Party.

Willard Wheatley
Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands
In office
2 June 1971 – 12 November 1979
MonarchElizabeth II
GovernorDerek George Cudmore
Walter Wilkinson Wallace
James Alfred Davidson
Preceded byLavity Stoutt
Succeeded byLavity Stoutt
Personal details
Born(1915-07-16)16 July 1915
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Died22 January 1997(1997-01-22) (aged 81)
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Political partyVI Democratic Party
United Party

At an event to commemorate what would have been the 100th birthday of Wheatley, then Premier Orlando Smith made a commitment to provide public funds to memorialise his achievements and for a book about his life to be published.[1]

His grandson Natalio Wheatley became Premier of the British Virgin Islands in May 2022.

Electoral history

edit
Willard Wheatley electoral history
Year District Party Votes Percentage Winning/losing margin Result
1971 6th District Independent -- -- -- Won
1975 6th District BVI United Party 319 52.7% +33 Won
1979 8th District BVI United Party Unopposed Won
1983 8th District BVI United Party Unopposed Won
1986 8th District BVI United Party 166 47.6% -12 Lost
L. Walters
1990 8th District Progressive People's Democratic Party 139 26.5% -175 Lost
L. Walters
1995 At-large Independent 265 1.36% -1,123* Lost
* For at-large candidates (general elections) who won, this is the vote differential from the 5th placed candidate (i.e. the candidate with the highest number of votes who was not elected). For at-large candidates who lose, this is the vote differential from the 4th placed candidate (i.e. the candidate with the lowest number of votes who was elected).

Political offices

edit
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands
1971–1979
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition
1979-1983
Succeeded by

References

edit

Footnotes

edit
  1. ^ "Late leader saluted amid plans to record his legacy". BVI News. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.