Francis Billy Hilly

Who is Francis Billy Hilly?

Sir Francis Billy Hilly KCMG is a Solomon Islands politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands from 18 June 1993 to 7 November 1994. He represented the Ranogga/Simbo Constituency in the National Parliament from 1976 to 1984, and has represented the constituency again since 1993. Hilly has been Minister of Commerce, Industry and Employment since December 2007.

Hilly was elected to the First Parliament in 1976 and was re-elected in 1980 to the Second Parliament, which sat until 1984. He returned to Parliament in May 1993 and has been re-elected in every election since: in August 1997, December 2001, and April 2006. He was appointed Prime Minister after the 1993 election, but in October 1994 resigned following a vote of no-confidence in Parliament. This was allegedly brought about by parliamentarians accepting bribes paid by logging companies.

After serving as Prime Minister, he was Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1995. He was one of two candidates nominated by the government for the position of Prime Minister in June 2000, but the opposition's candidate, Manasseh Sogavare, was elected. In July 2004 he became Leader of the Opposition again, receiving five votes from the eight members of the opposition who were present and defeating the other candidate for the position, Alfred Sasako. Following his election, he said that, unlike the two previous Opposition Leaders, he would not cross the floor to join the government, stressing the importance of the role of Opposition Leader. He remained Leader of the Opposition until 4 April 2006.