General elections were held in

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

on 21 February 2005 to elect the seven elected seats in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

. The

Anguilla United Front The Anguilla United Front (AUF) is an alliance of political parties in Anguilla. The AUF was created on 7 January 2000 as a political and electoral partnership, when an agreement, The United Front Agreement, was signed by the Chairmen and Politic ...

, an alliance of the

Anguilla National Alliance The Anguilla National Alliance was a centre-right political party in Anguilla, formed in 1980 by breaking away from the People's Progressive Party. They won one seat at the 1980 Anguillian general election, with the Anguilla United Movement win ...

and the

Anguilla Democratic Party The Anguilla Democratic Party was a political party in Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying ea ...

, won the elections retaining four of the elected seats.

Background

In the previous elections in 2000, the governing

Anguilla United Party The Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) is a political party in Anguilla. The party was named the Anguilla United Movement (AUM) until being rebranded in 2019 alongside new leaders and colours. It was founded in early 1980 by Ronald Webster and ...

was defeated by a coalition of the Anguilla National Alliance and the Anguilla Democratic Party. Together the two parties won four of the seven elected seats and the leader of the Anguilla National Alliance,

Osbourne Fleming Osbourne Berrington Fleming (born February 18, 1940) is a politician and a former Chief Minister of Anguilla, chief minister of Anguilla. He held that post from March 6, 2000, three days after the Anguilla United Front, a conservatism, conservati ...

, became

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

. In May 2004 the leadership of the opposition passed from

Hubert Hughes Hubert Benjamin Hughes (15 October 1933 – 7 May 2021) was an Anguillan politician. He was the island territory's Chief Minister from 16 March 1994 to 6 March 2000, and again between February 2010 and April 2015. Hughes was the only independen ...

, leader of the

Anguilla United Movement The Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) is a political party in Anguilla. The party was named the Anguilla United Movement (AUM) until being rebranded in 2019 alongside new leaders and colours. It was founded in early 1980 by Ronald Webster and ...

party, to Edison Baird, leader of the

Anguilla Strategic Alliance The Anguilla Strategic Alliance is a political party in Anguilla. At the 2005 Anguillian general election General elections were held in Anguilla on 21 February 2005 to elect the seven elected seats in the House of Assembly. The Anguilla Un ...

. This came after one member of the House of Assembly, Albert Hughes, changed parties.

Electoral system

The House of Assembly has 11 members. Seven members are directly elected by the

plurality voting system Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality) are elected. Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on single-member ...

while the other four members are appointed. One of the appointed members is chosen by the governing party, while the other three are appointed by the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, with one of the three appointments being made in consultation with the opposition.

Campaign

Towards the end of January 2005 Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming announced that the election would be held on 21 February, with nominations required by the 8 February. A record 25 candidates put themselves up for election by the 7,560 eligible voters. The governing

stood based on the development they had brought over the past five years, including the island's first 18 hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

, the renovation of Wallblake Airport and plans for a luxury hotel. Osbourne Fleming claimed that the developments would bring jobs and had made Anguilla significantly different from how it had been five years before. Three opposition parties, the Anguilla Strategic Alliance, Anguilla United Movement and

Anguilla Progressive Party The Anguilla Progressive Party (APP) is a political party in Anguilla. The APP took part in the 2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The begin ...

fielded candidates. Opposition leader Edison Baird of the Anguilla Strategic Alliance said that the government had not been open enough in explaining how the development project would benefit ordinary Anguillans. Opposition parties also criticised tax concessions given to the company who would be building the luxury hotel.

Results

All 6

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

s who sought re-election kept their seats in the election. The only change took place in Valley North where the previous representative, Eric Reid, stood down and was succeeded by Evans McNeil Rogers.

By constituency

Aftermath

The day after the elections was declared a national holiday and the four elected members of the Anguilla United Front were sworn into government by the Governor

Alan Huckle Alan Edden Huckle (born 15 June 1948) is an English senior diplomat in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government. He was the commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and the British Antarctic Territory fr ...

. Following the election, Albert Hughes, left the Anguilla Strategic Alliance and joined the government. This meant the opposition was evenly split between the Anguilla Strategic Alliance and the Anguilla United Movement, so the Governor did not appoint a

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

References

External links

District resultsFull list of candidates
{{Anguillan elections Elections in Anguilla

General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

February 2005 in North America