Portal:British Virgin Islands/Selected biography/6

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

D. Orlando Smith, OBE (born August 28, 1944) is a former Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands. He achieved that position when his National Democratic Party won parliamentary elections in 2003 for the first time in its history.

Dr Orlando Smith, OBE originally qualified as a physician, specializing in obstetrics, and was the Territory's chief medical officer for many years both before and after entering politics. He entered politics at a relatively late stage of his career, being first elected to the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands in the 1999 general election, as the head of the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP). In 2003 Dr Smith led the NDP to victory, defeating the ruling Virgin Islands Party for the first time since 1971 in the 2003 general election. (more...)