Governor of Ascension | |
---|---|
Style | His Excellency |
Appointer | Monarch of the United Kingdom |
Term length | at His Majesty's pleasure |
Formation | 2009 |
First holder | Andrew Gurr |
The Governor of Ascension is the representative of the monarch in Ascension Island, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. He is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government, his role is to act as the de facto head of state.
Prior to 2009, Ascension Island was a dependency of Saint Helena and therefore directly represented by the Governor of Saint Helena. The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 made Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha, equal constituent parts of the territory with their own governments and established the position of Governor of Ascension. [1]
Per section 143 of the Constitution Order, the persons appointed as Governor of Saint Helena are ex officio also Governor of Ascension.
Recent officeholders:
However, as Ascension Island is 809 miles (1,302 km) away from Saint Helena, an administrator is appointed to act as the Governor's representative on the island specifically. This arrangement predates the current constitutional structure and the first administrator was appointed in 1942.
Here is a list of them since 1964, if not 1942, formally referred to as "His / Her Honour".
Administrator | from | until | notes ? |
---|---|---|---|
M. E. Wainwright | June 1964 | September 1966 | |
Anthony Grant Ayerst Beyts | September 1966 | September 1967 | |
H. W. D. McDonald | June 1968 | September 1973 | |
Geoffrey Colin Guy († 2006) | September 1973 | November 1976 | |
G. McDonald | November 1976 | June 1977 | |
G. B. Kendal | June 1977 | September 1977 | |
Simon Gillett | September 1977 | June 1979 | |
P. Duncan | June 1979 | September 1980 | |
Bernard Edward Pauncefort († 2010) | September 1980 | August 1982 | |
Ian George Thow | August 1982 | August 1984 | |
Michael T. S. Blick | August 1984 | January 1989 | |
J. J. Beale | January 1989 | February 1991 | |
Brian Norman Connelly | February 1991 | June 1995 | |
Roger C. Huxley | June 1995 | 23 July 1999 | |
Geoffrey Fairhurst | 23 July 1999 | 10 July 2002 | |
Andrew Michael Kettlewell | 22 September 2002 | September 2005 | |
Michael Thomas Hill | September 2005 | September 2008 | |
Ross Denny | September 2008 | 9 September 2011 | |
Colin Wells | 27 October 2011 | August 2014 | |
Marc Holland | 26 August 2014 [5] | March 2018 | |
Justine Allan | 26 March 2018 | 25 November 2018 | |
Steven Chandler | 9 March 2019 [6] | 16 March 2020 | |
Sean Burns († 2023) [7] | 17 March 2020 [8] | 2 November 2022 | |
Simon Minshull | 2 November 2022 | Incumbent |
Resident-magistrate | from | until | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
W. Haining | 1922 | 1925 | |
E. Lee Lander | 1925 | 1928 | |
Fred Wood | 1928 | 1929 | |
E. A. Willmott | 1929 | 1934 | |
Lionel Bartlett | 1934 | 1936 | |
Percy Edwin Bunker | 1936 | 1938 | |
C. Nias | 1938 | 1938 | |
Percy Edwin Bunker | 1938 | 1939 | second time |
Stephen Harold Cardwell | 1939 | 1944 | |
Maurice Campbell Clark | 1944 | 1947 | |
V. W. Oelrichs | 1 July 1947 | 1949 | |
Herbert Louis Nicholson Ascough | 15 July 1949 | 1951 | |
F. G. Eastwood | 1 February 1951 | 1952 | |
B. Stephens | 14 April 1952 | 1954 | |
A. R. Harrison | 1 November 1954 | 1955 | |
F. J. Atkins | 10 October 1955 | 1956 | |
A. R. Harrison | 5 March 1956 | 18 May 1958 | second time |
B. R. Irving | 18 May 1958 | 4 November 1958 | |
A. R. Harrison | 4 November 1958 | 30 April 1961 | third time |
J. R. Bruce | 30 April 1961 | 28 June 1962 | |
J. Markham | 28 June 1962 | 21 December 1962 | |
J. R. Bruce | 21 December 1962 | 1964 | second time |
Commandant | from | until | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
James Kearney White | 22 October 1815 | March 1816 | |
William Roberts | March 1816 | August 1817 | |
James Thorn | August 1817 | September 1819 | |
Robert Campbell | September 1819 | March 1823 | |
Edward Nicolls | March 1823 | November 1828 | First Royal Marines officer as commandant |
William Bate | 3 November 1828 | 15 April 1838 | Died in office |
Hugh Evans | April 1838 | January 1839 | |
Roger Sawrey Tinklar | January 1839 | 14 September 1840 | Died in office |
J. Wade | September 1840 | December 1840 | Acting |
W. Lee | December 1840 | April 1841 | Acting |
H. Bennett | April 1841 | December 1841 | Died in office |
W. Lee | December 1841 | July 1842 | Acting; second time |
Thomas Peard Dwyer | July 1842 | April 1844 | |
T. C. C. Moore | April 1844 | May 1844 | |
John Fraser | May 1844 | 11 October 1844 | |
Arthur Fleming Morrell | 11 October 1844 | 18 January 1847 | |
Frederick Hutton | 18 January 1847 | October 1851 | |
William Hewgill Kitchen | October 1851 | June 1855 | |
George Alexander Seymour | June 1855 | March 1858 | |
William Farquharson Burnett | March 1858 | July 1861 | |
Frederick Lamport Barnard | July 1861 | March 1864 | |
Joseph Grant Bickford | March 1864 | June 1864 | |
F. Hammond | June 1864 | September 1866 | |
Walter James Hunt-Grubbe | September 1866 | March 1867 | |
Arthur Wilmshurst | March 1867 | November 1868 | |
J. G. Mead | November 1868 | May 1869 | |
R. W. Evans | May 1869 | October 1869 | |
E. F. Kirby | October 1869 | October 1872 | |
John Brazier Creagh | October 1872 | January 1874 | |
James Wylie East | January 1874 | February 1877 | |
Henry Bouchier Phillimore | February 1877 | December 1878 | |
Arthur George Robertson Roe | December 1878 | September 1882 | |
George Parsons | September 1882 | October 1886 | |
Richard Henry Napier | October 1886 | June 1890 | |
Richard Evans | June 1890 | May 1893 | |
J. G. Jones | May 1893 | May 1896 | |
John Edric Blaxland | May 1896 | July 1899 | |
George Northmore Arthur Pollard | July 1899 | 13 May 1902 | |
Robert Kyle McAlpine | 13 May 1902 | 13 March 1905 | |
Reginald Hallward Morgan | 13 March 1905 | 29 April 1908 | |
J. W. Dunstan | 29 April 1908 | 27 April 1910 | |
G. Carpenter | 27 April 1910 | 21 April 1913 | |
Henry Cleeve Bennett | 21 April 1913 | 8 June 1919 | |
Harold George Grant | 8 June 1919 | 15 October 1920 | |
Charles Arthur Tennyson | 15 October 1920 | 31 October 1922 |
Politics of Saint Helena takes place in a framework of limited self-government as a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, whereby the governor is the head of government. Saint Helena, an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is a part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
Tristan da Cunha, colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately 2,787 kilometres (1,732 mi) from Cape Town in South Africa, 2,437 kilometres (1,514 mi) from Saint Helena, 3,949 kilometres (2,454 mi) from Mar del Plata in Argentina, South America and 4,002 kilometres (2,487 mi) from the Falkland Islands.
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), are the 14 territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom, but do not form part of the United Kingdom itself. The permanently inhabited territories are internally self-governing, with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations. All of the territories are inhabited by civilians, except three that are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel. All fourteen have the British monarch as head of state. These UK government responsibilities are assigned to various departments of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and are subject to change.
An administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a governor or a governor-general.
The Governor of Saint Helena is the representative of the monarch in Saint Helena, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The current governor of Saint Helena has been Nigel Phillips since 13 August 2022.
The governor of Tristan de Cunha is the representative of the monarch in Tristan da Cunha, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the de facto head of state.
The Supreme Court of St Helena together with the St Helena Court of Appeal are the Senior Courts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Ascension Island:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Saint Helena:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tristan da Cunha:
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the coast of Africa and 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, of which the main island, Saint Helena, is around 800 miles (1,300 km) to the southeast. The territory also includes the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago, 2,300 miles (3,700 km) to the south, about halfway to the Antarctic Circle.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha have gradually evolved over the years. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is banned in the entire territory through the Constitution Order 2009 and same-sex marriage has been legal on the islands since 2017.
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha. Its name was Saint Helena and Dependencies until 1 September 2009, when a new constitution came into force giving the three islands equal status as three territories, with a grouping under the Crown.
The politics of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha operate under the jurisdiction of the government of the United Kingdom. The three parts of the territory—Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha—effectively form an asymmetric federacy and collectively constitute one of United Kingdom's fourteen overseas territories.
Lisa Kathleen Honan was the Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha from 25 April 2016 until 4 May 2019, when she was replaced by Philip Rushbrook. She is the first, and currently only, female to have held the post. Honan was previously Head of Office in Kenya for the Department for International Development, and after holding the post in St Helena went on to be Head of the DFID Office in Nepal. She resigned from there in August 2021 ending a career lasting 46 years in international development.
Air Commodore Nigel James Phillips, is a British diplomat, former Royal Air Force officer and former Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. He has served as Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha since 13 August 2022.
The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 is a Statutory Instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom direct from the Privy Council of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for a new Constitution for the British Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Before the Constitution came into force, the territory was formally known as St Helena and Dependencies under the provisions of the St. Helena Constitution Order 1988, which the 2009 Order replaces. The new Constitution gave each of the main islands equal status, ending the status of Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha as dependencies of Saint Helena within the territory. However, it retains a single Governor who is based in Jamestown, a single legal system and Administrators for Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It came into force on 1 September 2009.