Ralph T. O'Neal

For the WWI ace aviator, see Ralph Ambrose O'Neill

Ralph Telford O'Neal, OBE (born 15 December 1933)^[1] is the former Premier of the British Virgin Islands, and is expected to be appointed as the leader of the opposition. He was the first person to be appointed to the newly titled office by the Governor on 22 August 2007 under the British Virgin Islands constitution adopted in 2007 after leading the Virgin Islands Party to a landslide victory in the 2007 general election two days earlier. He rescinded the position on 7 November 2011 after the Virgin Islands Party lost its majority following the 2011 general elections.

Ralph O'Neal has also served a previous term as Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands (as the office was referred to under the old constitution) from 1995 (on the death of Lavity Stoutt). He won the next election in 1999, but then subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in the 2003 General Elections, and has held a seat in the House of Assembly, formerly the Legislative Council continuously since 1971.

He was educated at University of Oxford where he studied Economics. He is also property owner and developer in the British Virgin Islands. Apart from his property investments, O'Neal has had a number of other commercial interests during his life before serving in the House of Assembly under the Ralph O'Neal Group of Companies.

References

http://www.bviplatinum.com/news.php?page=Article&articleID=1320879676 http://www.bviplatinum.com/news.php?page=Article&articleID=1320925997