The limited political opportunities offered by service…

The limited political opportunities offered by service in the various municipal councils and parish vestries emphasizes the inadequacies of the system of appointed councils in which social considerations overrode merit as the primary basis for selection.

Appointed members have no political constituency—the basis on which they are chosen—and therefore no responsibility to the majority of the people.

Because there are no elected assemblies to represent the islands' interests, opposition to the crown colony system of government comes more often from the local level alone.