General elections were held in Montserrat on 8 October 1991.

Electoral System

The seven members of the Legislative Council were elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.

Background

The previous People's Liberation Movement (PLM) government had broken down in mid-September, following the resignation of Benjamin Chalmers, then the Minister of Communications and Works. Chalmers resigned his membership in the PLM after a series of public and private disagreements with party-leader and Chief Minister John Osborne.

Political Parties & Candidates

Nomination Day was 30 September 2014, one week before the elections. A record 26 persons presented themselves as candidates for the seven Parliamentary seats. The Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), which had been slowly coming together over the previous year, became the National Progressive Party (NPP) with Rueben T. Meade as leader, and fielded seven candidates.  The National Development Party (NDP) presented six, and the PLM, offered four candidates. On Nomination Day, nine independent candidates offered themselves for five of the constituencies.

Election Campaign

With only three weeks in which to campaign, and with three parties and twenty-six candidates contesting seven seats, campaigning was aggressive and direct as never before. The PLM was the only party who chose not to present a manifesto, and in fact was the least aggressive campaigner of the lot. The CCM/NPP had from its inception enjoyed the support of the Civil Servants and the union, and quickly gained that of the young people. They presented themselves as the new generation of politicians who were also technocrats; educated and informed young and better equipped to handle the responsibilities of governing a developing country.

Results

The election resulted in the National Progressive Party (NPP) gaining the parliamentary majority, with four of the seven seats in the Legislative Council under the election campaign slogan of "Give the Youth a Chance".  One seat each went to the other parties contesting the election – the People’s Liberation Movement (PLM) and National Development Party (NDP) – and an independent. 

Voter Turnout

Voter turnout was 66.8% of the 7,282 registered voters. The winning NPP received 43% of the votes cast.

Post-election

Reuben Meade became the new Chief Minister.  He said that his government would put God first, country second, party third and himself last. He encouraged criticism of Government, and saw development in its broadest sense as the overall improvement in the quality of life for all residents of its island.