1971 Nevis Local Council election
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December 1971
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All 9 seats on the Nevis Local Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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An election was held for the Nevis Local Council in December 1971. The result saw the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) win six out of nine available seats, with NRP leader Simeon Daniel becoming Chairman of the Local Council.
This was the second local election for the island of Nevis within Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and the first local election held since reforms to the Local Government Act saw the number of elected members of the local council expanded from six to nine seats, and abolished the three nominated members, which controversially were appointed by the central Government.[1] The previous and first ever election for the council in 1967 had delivered a majority for the People's Action Movement, who won 5 of 6 seats. However, the PAM opted not to run again in the 1971 election and stopped contesting elections on the island of Nevis from this point onwards.[2]
Campaign
Sentiment against Saint Kitts and the central government of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla was extremely high amongst Nevisians, and the newly founded Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) had become a leading voice in calling for independence from Saint Kitts since its establishment in 1970.[3][2]
The PAM and Labour Party did not contest the election, however, the United National Movement (UNM) once again contested the council election, with the UNM often being described as an affiliate of Labour in Nevis.[2][4]
