Falkland Islands general election, 2009

The Falkland Islands general election of 2009 was held on Thursday 5 November 2009 to elect members to the Legislative Assembly. It was the first general election in the Falkland Islands since the new constitution came into force on 1 January 2009, which replaced the old Legislative Council with the Legislative Assembly. Chief Executive Tim Thorogood acted as Returning Officer.

Eight MLAs were elected through universal suffrage using block voting, five from the Stanley constituency and three from the Camp constituency. Each elector in Stanley could vote for five candidates, and in Camp each elector could vote for three candidates.^[1] In total 4,989 votes were cast in the election, relating to a turnout of 1,232 (77.7% of the electorate).^[2] As no political parties are active on the Islands, all the candidates stood as nonpartisans. The election result was said to be an 'upset' as none of the incumbent MLAs kept their seat.^[3]

Results

Candidates in bold were elected. Candidates in italic were incumbents.

Stanley constituency

Stanley result[4]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Richard Sawle	770	17.70	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Gavin Short	590	13.56	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Glenn Ross	491	11.28	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Emma Edwards	474	10.89	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Jan Cheek	452	10.39	+2.37
	Nonpartisan	Mike Summers	402	9.24	-4.66
	Nonpartisan	Eric Goss	252	5.79	-2.25
	Nonpartisan	John Birmingham	250	5.75	-1.24
	Nonpartisan	Norman Clarke	249	5.72	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Jackie Cotter	187	4.30	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Andrea Clausen	139	3.19	-10.39
	Nonpartisan	Janet Robertson	95	2.18	-6.53
Turnout			4,351	75.6

Camp constituency

Camp result[5]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Roger Edwards	148	23.20	+8.64
	Nonpartisan	Sharon Halford	147	23.04	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Bill Luxton	147	23.04	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Ian Hansen	93	14.58	-15.50
	Nonpartisan	Richard Stevens	57	8.93	-10.43
	Nonpartisan	Clive Wilkinson	46	7.21	N/A
Turnout			638	89.3

References

1. Watson, Lisa (4 November 2009). "Falkland Islands votes on Thursday for new Legislative Assembly". MercoPress. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
2. "Record Turnout in First Falklands Election Held Under New Constitution" (PDF). Falkland Islands Government. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
3. Watson, Lisa (6 November 2009). "Sweeping changes in Falkland Islands general election". MercoPress. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
4. Brock, J. (6 November 2009). "Falklands Election - Stanley Constituency Upset". South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
5. Brock, J. (6 November 2009). "Falklands' Camp Constituency Final Tally". South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association. Retrieved 2010-06-13.