The Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the representative of the

British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...

in the United Kingdom's

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

. The role of the Governor is to act as the vice-regal representative of the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

, His Majesty

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. The Governor appoints the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

and 5 members of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

. The official residence of the Governor is the Government House of Turks and Caicos Islands, located in Waterloo on the island of

Grand Turk Grand Turk Island is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the largest island in the Turks Islands (the smaller of the two archipelagos that make up the island territory) with . Grand Turk contains the territory's capital, Cockburn To ...

. In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the islands' self-government after allegations of ministerial corruption. The prerogative of the ministerial government and the House of Assembly were vested in the Governor until self-government was restored in 2012. The Governor has his own flag in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

with the territory's coat of arms superimposed.

Nigel Dakin Nigel John Dakin (born 28 February 1964) is a British diplomat currently serving as Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. He assumed office on 15 July 2019 in a swearing-in ceremony before the territory's House of Assembly. On 15 December 2 ...

is the current Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. On 15 December 2022, the Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office announced that the current

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

, Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, would be succeeding Nigel Dakin as Governor in June 2023.

History

The islands were a dependency of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

until that colony received independence in 1962. Afterwards the governor of the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

oversaw affairs from 1965 to 1973. With Bahamian independence, the islands received a separate governor in 1973.

Governors of The Turks and Caicos Islands

References

External links

Office of the Governor

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

Lists of political office-holders in the Turks and Caicos Islands {{TurksCaicos-stub