| Post: | Premier of the Virgin Islands |
| Insignia: | Coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands.svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Arms of His Majesty's British Virgin Islands Government |
| Incumbent: | Natalio Wheatley |
| Incumbentsince: | 5 May 2022 |
| Style: | The Honourable |
| Appointer: | Governor of the Virgin Islands |
| Formation: | 14 April 1967 |
| First: | Hamilton Lavity Stoutt |
| Website: | Office of the Premier |
The Premier of the Virgin Islands[1] is the head of government for the British Virgin Islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Premier is appointed by the Governor on behalf of the British monarch, currently King Charles III.[2] Until 2007, the head of government was known as the Chief Minister of the Virgin Islands, but a constitutional change in 2007 renamed the position as Premier.[3]
The current Premier is Natalio Wheatley. He is serving since 5 May 2022.[4]
Since the 1967 constitution was adopted, only seven different people (all men) have served as Premier or Chief Minister, and each of them except for Cyril Romney has served at least two full terms. Also, each of them has served as the Leader of the Opposition.
H. Lavity Stoutt won the most general elections of any leader (he won five), followed by Orlando Smith (three). Stoutt, Smith and Willard Wheatley are the only leaders to have served two consecutive full terms (Ralph T. O'Neal also served two consecutive terms, but the first of those was the remaining part of a term after Stoutt's death).
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Elected | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
| Chief Ministers (1967–2007) | |||||||||
| 1 | H. Lavity Stoutt | 14 April 1967 | 2 June 1971 | United Party | 1967 | ||||
| 2 | Willard Wheatley | 2 June 1971 | 12 November 1979 | VI Democratic Party | 1971 1975 | ||||
| United Party | |||||||||
| H. Lavity Stoutt | 12 November 1979 | 11 November 1983 | Virgin Islands Party | 1979 | |||||
| 3 | Cyril Romney | 11 November 1983 | 17 November 1986 | United Party | 1983 | ||||
| H. Lavity Stoutt | 17 November 1986 | 14 May 1995 | Virgin Islands Party | 1986 1990 1995 | |||||
| 4 | Ralph T. O'Neal | 15 May 1995 | 17 June 2003 | Virgin Islands Party | 1999 | ||||
| 5 | D. Orlando Smith | 17 June 2003 | 23 August 2007 | National Democratic Party | 2003 | ||||
| Premiers (2007–present) | |||||||||
| 1 | Ralph T. O'Neal | 23 August 2007 | 9 November 2011 | Virgin Islands Party | 2007 | ||||
| 2 | D. Orlando Smith | 9 November 2011 | 25 February 2019 | National Democratic Party | 2011 2015 | ||||
| 3 | Andrew Fahie | 26 February 2019 | 5 May 2022 | Virgin Islands Party | 2019 | ||||
| 4 | Natalio Wheatley | 5 May 2022 | Incumbent | Virgin Islands Party | 2023 | ||||
All previous Chief Ministers or Premiers have served at least two terms except for Cyril Romney and Andrew Fahie.
| № | Name | General Election victories | Total time in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 6,117 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 4,494 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 4,194 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 3,085 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 1,164 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 1,055 | ||
| 7 | 1 |