The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are the 14 territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that,while not forming part of the United Kingdom itself,are part of its sovereign territory. The permanently inhabited territories are delegated varying degrees of internal self-governance,with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence,foreign relations,and internal security,and ultimate responsibility for "good" governance. Three of the territories are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel,the rest hosting significant civilian populations. 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.
Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency,whereby as of August 9,2006 the Premier is the head of government,and of a multi-party system. The islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the Turks and Caicos Islands on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Council.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are divided into five administrative districts,and the Island of Grand Turk;four of these are headed by District Commissioners,and Providenciales District is run by the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Premier in Providenciales. The Island of Grand Turk is directly administered by the TCI Government.
Arthur Christopher Watson,was a British colonial administrator and politician who served as Governor of Montserrat,Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the British High Commissioner to Brunei.
Sir Dominic Anthony Gerard Asquith is a British career diplomat and former Ambassador to Iraq,Egypt,and Libya. He was First Secretary at the British Embassy in Washington DC. He was most recently the British High Commissioner to the Republic of India.
Sir Roderic Michael John Lyne is a British former diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2000 to 2004.
Nigel Marcus Baker is a British diplomat,who was formerly Ambassador to Bolivia and Ambassador to the Holy See. He was Head of the Latin America department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2016 to 2019,and in August 2020 took up his appointment as British Ambassador to Slovakia.
Colin Roberts is a British diplomat and the former Governor of the Falkland Islands and former Commissioner of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Dame Alison Mariot Leslie,,known as Mariot Leslie,is a former British diplomat whose last post was Permanent Representative to NATO. When she was replaced at NATO it was announced that she would retire from the Diplomatic Service.
Paul Damian Madden is a retired British diplomat,who was High Commissioner to Singapore and to Australia,and Ambassador to Japan between 2017 and 2021.
John Patrick George Freeman is a retired British diplomat who until July 2019 was Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Peter Alfred Penfold was a British diplomat who was the second youngest governor of the British Virgin Islands and was High Commissioner to the Republic of Sierra Leone. His career began in 1963,when he joined the Foreign Service as a clerical officer. Two years into his career,he was posted to the British embassy in Bonn,West Germany,and two years after that to Nigeria. From 1970 to 1972,Penfold served as a "floater" in Latin America,filling in as necessary for staff at British missions in the region. He served in Mexico during the 1970 football world cup,and on St Vincent,where he was responsible for organising an evacuation after a volcanic eruption. After Latin America,Penfold briefly served in Canberra,before returning to London to take a post in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). He earned early promotion to second secretary in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia,where he was responsible for reporting on the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Eritrean War of Independence and was still in the country during the revolution,in which the pro-Western emperor was overthrown. After completing his tour in Ethiopia,Penfold served as information officer in Port of Spain and then as first secretary in the West Africa Department of the FCO.
Peter Beckingham is a British retired diplomat,who was Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands 2013–2016.
Sir Philip Robert Barton is a British diplomat,currently the Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign,Commonwealth and Development Office. He was previously British High Commissioner to India;he was High Commissioner to Pakistan from 2014 to 2016.
Dame Menna Frances Rawlings is a British diplomat serving as British Ambassador to France since 2021. Previously British High Commissioner to Australia from 2015 to 2019,she then served as Director General of Economic and Global Issues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2019 to 2020.
David Tatham is an English former ambassador and Governor of the Falkland Islands,1992–1996. He was also editor of The Dictionary of Falklands Biography.
Stephen Lillie is a British diplomat who was High Commissioner to Cyprus from 2018 to 2022.
Nigel John Dakin (born 28 February 1964 was a British diplomat and soldier who served as Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands between 15 July 2019 and 29 March 2023.
