An election was held in Nevis on 24 February 1997 to elect all five of the elected members of the Nevis Island Assembly. The Premier of Nevis, Vance Amory, had called an early election for the assembly in order to seek a mandate for an independence referendum for Nevis, with previous attempts in 1996 being blocked by the opposition Nevis Reformation Party in the assembly. The election saw Vance Amory’s party, the Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM), retain their majority with three of five seats, while the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) remained in opposition with 2 out of 5 seats.
Elected members The following members were elected for the five assembly constituencies: District Elected membersPartyMember 1-Saint Paul NRP Victor Jay Martin 2-Saint Johns CCM Malcolm Guishard 3-Saint George CCM Vance Amory 4-Saint James CCM Jean Harris 5-Saint Thomas NRP Joseph Parry
Aftermath The election saw no change to the political makeup of the assembly, and the CCM once again had a majority to form the government. Premier Vance Amory claimed the election victory had given him a mandate to pursue independence, and in October 1997 the assembly unanimously approved plans for an independence referendum, which was held in 1998 and was unsuccessful.
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