ABSTRACT
Government. 18 April-4 May 1966: A Constitutional Conference was held in London to discuss the future of Dominica, Grenada, St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, St Lucia and St Vincent following the collapse of the proposed Little Seven federation (as it had become following Grenada’s withdrawal). 1 November 1966: Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St ChristopherNevis-Anguilla, St Lucia and St Vincent founded the West Indies (Associated States) Council of Ministers, which discussed proposals for a ‘small island federation’. These talks, however, collapsed and the islands, with the exception of Montserrat, subsequently achieved full independence separately. 27 February 1967: St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla was granted the status of an Associated State, and became self-governing, although the United Kingdom retained responsibility for defence and foreign relations. The Legislative Council was replaced by a House of Assembly, the Administrator became Governor, and the Chief Minister, Robert Bradshaw, leader of the Labour Party, became Premier. 19 March 1967: A force of 200 soldiers belonging to the British Parachute Regiment occupied Anguilla and installed Anthony Lee as Administrator. 31 May 1967: Around 250 armed Anguillans forced the island’s 17 policemen to leave, thereby achieving virtual independence. 11 July 1967: A referendum on Anguilla overwhelmingly approved independence for the island, and Peter Adams took of fice as President. 4 August 1967: Adams was deposed as President of Anguilla and replaced by the Rev. Ronald Webster, following the approval by Adams of an unpopular compromise agreement with the Government of St Christopher and Nevis. 10 May 1971: Bradshaw retained his position as Prime Minister, after the Labour Party won seven of the nine seats in the House of Assembly. The two seats for Nevis were secured by the People’s Action Movement (PAM) and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP). 25 July 1972: The Governments of Guyana, Dominica, Grenada, St Christopher-NevisAnguilla, St Lucia and St Vincent signed the Declaration of Grenada, which created the framework for an Eastern Caribbean political union. 30 May 1975: The British Government announced that Anguilla would be granted separate status within the existing Associated State. 1 December 1975: The Labour Party was returned to office at a general elections and Bradshaw was reappointed Premier. 10 February 1976: The new Constitution proposed by the British Government came into effect in Anguilla and St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and elections were subsequently held to Anguilla’s separate House of Assembly. 23 May 1978: The Deputy Premier, Tim Southwell, took office as Premier following the death of Bradshaw. 18 May 1979: Southwell died and was succeeded as Premier by the former AttorneyGeneral and Minister of External Affairs, Lee Moore. f
19 December 1980: Anguilla formally withdrew from the Associated State of St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, which had not exercised any control over the island’s affairs since 1971, and became a separate dependency of the United Kingdom. 19 September 1983: The islands achieved full independence from the United Kingdom as Saint Christopher and Nevis. A new Constitution was introduced and Simmonds became Prime Minister. 21 June 1984: The PAM-NRP coalition was returned to power at legislative elections, winning nine of the 11 seats in the newly expanded National Assembly. 21 March 1989: The PAM won six of the 11 seats at elections to the National Assembly and Simmonds was reappointed Prime Minister. 29 November 1993: At a general election neither the PAM nor the Labour Party managed to secure a majority in the House of Assembly, with both parties winning four seats. On Nevis the Concerned Citizens’ Movement (CCM) secured two seats and the NRP one. The leader of the CCM, Vance Amory, refused to form a coalition with either PAM or the Labour Party, obliging the Governor-General to invite Simmonds to form a minority Government with the support of the NRP. 1-2 December 1993: Violent demonstrations were held in Basseterre to protest against Simmonds’ attempts to form a new Government, and a state of emergency was declared. 3 July 1995: The instability of the Government’s majority forced Simmonds to call a general election, at which he was conclusively defeated. The Labour Party won a large majority and the party’s leader, Denzil Douglas, was appointed Prime Minister. 23 June 1996: Vance Amory, the Premier of Nevis, announced he was to launch a bid for Nevis to secede from the federation with St Christopher. 24 February 1997: The CCM won three of the five elected seats in the Nevis Island Assembly, while the NRP won the remaining two. 13 October 1997: The five elected members of the Nevis Island Assembly voted to secede from the federation and announced a referendum on the subject. 10 August 1998: The referendum on the secession of Nevis was approved by around 62% of voters, although this fell short of the two-thirds majority required for a change of status. Douglas subsequently pledged greater autonomy for the island. February 2000: A report published into allegations of corruption within the Simmonds Government, dating back to 1997, made 10 specific accusations of negligence, improper behaviour and irresponsible action against Simmonds. However, the accusations were rejected by Simmonds. 6 March 2000: The Labour Party retained power at legislative elections, taking all eight seats on St Christopher and 64.5% of votes cast; the PAM obtained 35.5%. The distribution of seats on Nevis remained unchanged. Douglas was reappointed Prime Minister. The PAM subsequently accused the Government of electoral fraud and announced that the party would not contest any future elections until the electoral register had been revised. 26-27 June 2000: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF, part of the OECD) criticized St
Grant was elected in his place.
