Governors

Some Governors have it easy. In the early days, when he was still talking to me, I asked Andrew George what he did before he became Governor of Anguilla. He told me he ran the health desk at the FCO. I understood by that that he checked the health insurance of his fellow department officers. Which goes to show what sort of grade the FCO chose for governor of Anguilla at that time. A clerical officer could only be appointed Governor of Anguilla if his superiors expected nothing positive of his administration. Nothing, except the traditional one of sweeping anything unpleasant that might crop up in the colony under the carpet. The main job of a Governor of a British Overseas Territory in the West Indies was to ensure that the Foreign Secretary suffered no embarrassment as a result of his overall responsibility for the island. It has been so for hundreds of years. Governor Smiley, as he was fondly known to us here, has gone off into retirement with a glow of success surrounding him. He was given a rousing send off and applauded by local Ministers for having done a good job of protecting them.

The FCO will not make that mistake again. Not since the Foreign Affairs Committee Report of last year showed up the bankruptcy of the previous “hands off” system of FCO governance of the Overseas Territories. That is why the FCO have announced they are “upgrading” the position of Governor. Anguilla’s new Governor comes with a distinguished curriculum vitae. He has immense diplomatic experience in some of the most difficult hot spots of British international relations. From this, I understand that there has been a considerable “upgrade” in the type of FCO officer sent to be Governor of Anguilla. I deduce from this that we can expect that Governors now will demand the highest standards of behaviour in public office from members of the Executive Council. Misconduct will no longer be tolerated, we can hope. Alistair Harrison CVO arrived in Anguilla on Sunday to begin his term as Governor of Anguilla. He will be sworn in today in a televised ceremony at the House of Assembly. He is in for a tough assignment over the next three years. I wish him every success, but he will face many challenges on this little island.

Elections are due next year for the latest, more likely in a couple of months' time.

And, then, there are the miscellaneous minor matters of a dysfunctional education system, a demoralized public service, a divided and paralysed governing political party; a mortally wounded Health Authority of Anguilla, the collapsing economy, and the proposed new Constitution of Anguilla that has not as yet been shared with the public.