Governor of Tristan da Cunha

Governor of Tristan da Cunha
Coat of arms of Tristan da Cunha
Standard of the governor of Tristan da Cunha
Incumbent Nigel Phillips since 13 August 2022
Style	His Excellency
Appointer	Monarch of the United Kingdom
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	2009
First holder	Andrew Gurr

Politics of Tristan da Cunha
The Crown Monarch King Charles III
Government Governor Nigel Phillips Plantation House The Castle Sheriff Responsible Minister (UK) Tariq Ahmad Administrator of Tristan da Cunha Philip Kendall Chief Islander of Tristan da Cunha James Glass Tristan da Cunha Island Council
Judiciary Attorney General Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Court of Appeal of Saint Helena Supreme Court Magistrates and Juvenile Courts
Other Flag Coat of Arms Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (Capital) Queen Mary's Peak Inaccessible Island Nightingale Islands Nightingale Island Middle Island Stoltenhoff Island Gough Island
Other countries
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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.

Prior to 2009 Tristan de Cunha 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 Tristan da Cunha.^[1] Per Section 208 of the Constitution Order the person appointed as Governor of Saint Helena is ex officio Governor of Tristan da Cunha. However, as Tristan da Cunha is 1,350 miles (2,170 km) away from Saint Helena, an administrator of Tristan da Cunha is appointed to act as the governor's representative on the Island. This arrangement predates the current constitutional structure and the first Administrator was appointed in the 1940s. Previously the administrator also acted as the local magistrate, but the appointment is to be transferred to a non-member of the executive or legislative branches of government.

The first administrator, appointed during World War II, was Surgeon Lieutenant Commander E. J. S. Woolley, the head of the 16-man British naval garrison on the island which was charged with monitoring German submarines and intercepting their communications.

The first appointee to the post was Sir Hugh Elliott in 1949, when commercial development began of the local crayfish catch, for export markets. There was then no currency on Tristan da Cunha: local trade was by barter. Elliott's activities included the island's first postal service and discovery of a new species of flea, which he named for his wife Elizabeth.

The governor has his own flag, a Union Jack with the addition of the territory's coat of arms in the centre of the flag.

The following is a complete list of administrators of Tristan da Cunha:^[2]

Prior to 2009 Tristan da Cunha was a dependency of Saint Helena and therefore directly represented by the governor of Saint Helena.

• 2009 – Andrew Gurr
• 2011 – Mark Andrew Capes
• 2016 – Lisa Honan^[7]
• 2019 – Dr Philip Rushbrook^[8]
• 2022 – Nigel Phillips^[9]

• Tristan da Cunha Administrator – Tristan da Cunha Government & Tristan da Cunha Association