2013 Falkland Islands general election

2013 Falkland Islands general election

← 2009 7 November 2013 (7 November 2013) 2017 →
All 8 members to the legislative assembly 5 seats needed for a majority
Majority party   Party Nonpartisan Seats won 8
Speaker before election Keith Biles Elected Speaker Keith Biles

Politics of the Falkland Islands
Constitution Constitution of the Falkland Islands
The Crown Monarch King Charles III
Government Governor Alison Blake Executive Council Chief Executive Andy Keeling Financial secretary Pat Clunie Attorney General Simon Young
Legislature Speaker Keith Biles Constituencies Legislative Council
Judiciary Supreme Court Court of Appeal of the Falkland Islands Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Elections Elections in the Falkland Islands 1949 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1971 1976 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 Next Referendums in the Falkland Islands 1986 2001 2011 2013 2020 By-elections Politicians
Other Sovereignty dispute Outline History
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The Falkland Islands general election of 2013 was held on Thursday 7 November 2013^[1] to elect all eight members of the Legislative Assembly (five from the Stanley constituency and three from the Camp constituency) through universal suffrage using block voting, with each Stanley constituent having up to 5 votes and each Camp constituent having up to 3 votes. A total of 1,046 ballots (4,750 votes) were cast in Stanley, representing a turn-out of 75.4%, and 242 ballots (675 votes) in Camp, representing a turn-out of 85.5%.^[2] As no political parties are active in the Falklands, all the candidates stood as Independents. The Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands, Keith Padgett, acted as returning officer. It was the second election since the new Constitution came into force replacing the Legislative Council (which had existed since 1845) with the Legislative Assembly.

For the first time, elected candidates would be paid a salary, rather than just expenses, and be expected to work full-time, giving up whatever jobs or business interests they may have previously held. This led to criticism from some Islanders that potential candidates had been put off from standing as they didn't want to give up their jobs.^[3]

All but two members of the previous Legislative Assembly won re-election (Camp MLA Sharon Halford lost her seat and Stanley MLA Dick Sawle did not stand for re-election).^[2] Michael Poole, one of the new intake, became the first member of the islands' legislature to have been born after the Falklands War and received the highest number of votes of a candidate in the history of the islands.^[4]