{{Politics of Saint Kitts and Nevis}}
The '''Nevis Local Council''' was the local government for the island of Nevis within the Associated State of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla from 1967 until 1983.
==History== ===1967 – 1971=== In 1967, the Saint Christopher-Anguilla-Nevis legislature passed legislation that granted Anguilla and Nevis their own local councils.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.axalibrary.ai/newspapers/The%20Democrat/The%20Democrat%20December%2012%201967.pdf|title=Nevis Island Council elections Dec. 15|date=2 December 1967|work=The Democrat|accessdate=31 January 2026|via=axalibrary.ai}}</ref><ref name=NWIG>{{cite web|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/nwig/78/1-2/article-p43_2.xml|title=Pepper and bones: the secessionist impulse in Nevis|author=Midgett, Douglas|publisher= New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids|date=1 January 2004|accessdate=11 February 2026|via=brill.com}}</ref><ref name=JSTOR>{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25612379|title=The Nevis Local Council: A Case of Formalism in Structural Change|author=Urias Forbes|date=July 1971|journal=Caribbean Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2|publisher=Institute of Caribbean Studies, UPR, Rio Piedras Campus|via=JSTOR|accessdate=11 February 2026}}</ref> The Nevis Local Council was given some revenue raising powers around certain taxes, licence fees and rates (although this required approval from central government), while according to Urias Forbes writing in the Caribbean Studies journal, the council's powers created "either a duty or a discretion to regulate and control, or to maintain and, to a more limited extent, to establish a variety of public utilities and services connected with environmental sanitation, water, vehicular traffic, roadway maintenance, fire protection and recreational facilities.”<ref name=JSTOR/>
In April 1967, the council was inaugurated with nominated members, with the council’s first election taking place in December 1967.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1967-05-02/debates/fd71b5f8-9fed-473b-ba21-455f03f6911b/NevisAndAnguilla(LocalElections)|title=Nevis And Anguilla (Local Elections)|website=UK Parliament|date=2 May 1967|accessdate=31 January 2026}}</ref> The election saw the People’s Action Movement (PAM) win five of six available elected seats, while the United National Movement won one seat, with the three remaining seats being appointed.<ref name=NWIG/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/675226145/|title=Nevis Opposition Gains|publisher=Associated Press|newspaper=The Kansas City Times|date=18 December 1967|accessdate=11 February 2026|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> While elected members held office until the next election, with elections being held every four years, nominated members held office for two years.<ref name=JSTOR/>
===1971 onwards=== In November 1971, the council was reformed through the 1971 Local Government (Amendment) Act, which saw the three nominated seats being abolished in favour of all nine seats being elected.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fully elected Council for Nevis|newspaper=The Democrat|date=4 December 1971 }}</ref> In the 1971 election held in December, the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) won six of nine seats and Simeon Daniel, leader of the NRP, went on to serve as Chairman of the Local Council, succeeding Fred Parris to the position.<ref name=NWIG/><ref>{{cite book| title= Dictionary of Contemporary Politics| publisher=Routledge | year=2016| isbn=1138195669}}</ref><ref name=Democrat>{{cite news|title=Nevis Council Sworn In|date=January 1972|newspaper=The Democrat}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dloc.com/AA00083639/10300/images/1|date=18 December 1971|title=Nevis Reformation Party wins 6 seats|newspaper=St Croix Avis|via= Digital Library of the Caribbean|accessdate=19 February 2026}}</ref> The NRP had campaigned on a platform of Nevisian independence from Saint Kitts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1242083509/|title=A little island that’s full of pride|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=13 December 1971|accessdate=11 February 2026|via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dloc.com/AA00083639/10300/images/1|date=18 December 1971|title=Nevis Reformation Party wins 6 seats|newspaper=St Croix Avis|accessdate=11 February 2026|via= Digital Library of the Caribbean}}</ref> In March 1974, the Nevis Local Council voted to pass a resolution calling for Nevisian independence from Saint Kitts.<ref name=NWIG/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/750684539/|title=Little Anguilla Wilson’s burden|newspaper=The State|date=22 July 1974 |accessdate=11 February 2026|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>
In the 1975 election, the NRP won all nine seats unopposed.<ref name=SKNO>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestkittsnevisobserver.com/from-the-supervisor-of-elections-14/|title=From the supervisor of elections|date=21 April 2017|website=Saint Kitts and Nevis Observer|accessdate=11 February 2026}}</ref> In 1976, the Nevis Local Council declared “be it resolved that the people of Nevis through the Nevis Local Council call upon the Central Government of the State to introduce the necessary Legislation in order to give to the island of Nevis its own Legislative Council as expressed by the people of Nevis at the recent elections”<ref name=NWIG/> and later that year the NRP again entered talks with the central government seeking independence, with the NRP later unilaterally holding a referendum on independence in 1977.<ref name=NWIG/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1134775441/|title=Now Bradshaw faces secession issue from tiny Nevis|newspaper=New York Amsterdam News|date=15 October 1977 |accessdate=11 February 2026|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> The referendum result in favour of independence was rejected by the central government.<ref name=NWIG/> In the 1979 election, the council remained in control of the NRP, who again won all nine seats and defeated the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dloc.com/UF00072476/00654/images|title=Nevis Reformation Party wins 9 seats|newspaper=Star (Roseau, Dominica)|date= 7 December 1979|accessdate=24 January 2026|via=Digital Library of the Caribbean}}</ref><ref name=SKNO/>
==Abolishment== In September 1983, following Saint Kitts and Nevis becoming independent from the United Kingdom, the constitution of the newly formed federation of the two islands granted Nevis its own legislature, the Nevis Island Assembly, with the Nevis Local Council being replaced by this new Assembly.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.kn/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/constitution-of-st-kitts-and-nevis.pdf|title=Constitution of Saint Kitts and Nevis|website=Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis|accessdate=11 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lawcommission.gov.kn/wp-content/documents/Ord02and09TOC/Ch-01_01N-Transfer-of-Powers-Functions-Local-Govt-Act-1967-Ord.pdf|title=TRANSFER OF POWERS AND FUNCTIONS (LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1967) ORDINANCE|accessdate=11 February 2026|website=Law Commission of Saint Kitts and Nevis}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Nevis elections}}
Category:Politics of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Nevis Category:1967 establishments in Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla Category:20th-century disestablishments in the Caribbean Category:1983 disestablishments in dependent territories of the United Kingdom