Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

There was nothing wrong with Fraser as Premier — Lorna Smith

There was nothing wrong with Fraser as Premier — Lorna Smith

Deputy Premier, Lorna Smith, said she felt there was nothing wrong with a proposal by Third District Representative Julian Fraser that he would have only formed an alliance with the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) or with any of the other parties if he was given the reins of the territory.
Smith sprung a surprise of her own instead when she bypassed negotiations held among leaders of the three other successful parties after the elections did not produce a clear winner. The former First Lady moved quickly to form an alliance with the VIP which allowed her to become Deputy Premier, slamming the door shut to any possibility of a Fraser-led government.

Fraser’s leadership pitch had been deemed as untenable by Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley, while Smith’s proposal appeared to have found fertile ground, much to the dismay of her fellow National Democratic Party (NDP) members and other colleagues.

Smith, while detailing the sequence of events that followed the close of polls, told JTV News that things may well have gone in a completely different direction.

The now-Labour Minister confirmed that it was left to party leaders – NDP Chairman, Marlon Penn, and Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) Chairman, Ronnie Skelton – for a decision to be made on whether there would have been a merger between the two and Fraser, who is the leader of the one-man Progressives United (PU) party.

But even as those leaders met in earnest to discuss the way forward, details of the VIP-Smith alliance emerged just after noon on the following day, after Smith felt the others were taking too long to come to an agreement. This is despite the fact that less than 24 hours had elapsed since the elections had wrapped up.

“At the risk of saying too much, the feeling was definitely that… in fact, it was more than a feeling that [Fraser] would be, of course, at the top of the ticket,” Smith revealed. “In principle, [there was] nothing wrong with that.”

The Deputy Premier reminded persons that a similar situation obtained when former Chief Ministers Willard Wheatley and Cyril Romney took the reins of the country even though they were both independent candidates at the time.

Smith revealed that, although she wasn’t happy about the conclusion of the election night negotiations, that was the decision that had been made up until that point.

Smith has been taken to task by residents ever since making the move to join the VIP-led government, with some expressing regret about voting for her and a sense of betrayal over her move to sit among the VIP’s ranks.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
×