Since the
1967 constitution was adopted, only seven different people (all men) have served as Premier or Chief Minister. Prior to 1967, executive power in the British Virgin Islands was held by the British appointed Commissioner of the Virgin Islands, advised by the partially-elected Legislative Council. In 1967, the Virgin Islands Constitution Order was passed in order to introduce
ministerial governance to the colony. The office of Chief Minister of the Virgin Islands was created for the leader of the largest elected party in the new Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister would be appointed by the Administrator (later
Governor of the Virgin Islands).
H. Lavity Stoutt has won the most general elections of any leader (he won five), followed by
Orlando Smith (three). During negotiations for the 2007 constitutional reforms, there were proposals that the Premier would chair the
Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands with the Governor only being advised and provided information about meetings. However, due to internal disagreements within the BVI party, it was instead agreed that the Premier would be just an ordinary member of the Cabinet while the Governor would be the non-voting chairman. ==List==