The Lieutenant Governor
The Lieutenant Governor is the personal representative of the Queen on the Island. He is appointed by the Sovereign, on the advice of the Home Secretary and with the concurrence of the Government of the Isle of Man, and usually serves for a five year term. The current Lieutenant Governor is Mr Adam Wood and he was appointed in April 2011. His immediate predecessor was Vice Admiral Sir Paul Haddacks KCB who was appointed in 2005.
Mr Wood retired from the British Diplomatic Service after a distinguished career in diplomacy and international development. This culminated in the post of Africa Director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in which role he advised the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary and managed the network of Britain’s Embassies and High Commissions across Africa. Between 2005 and 2008 he was British High Commissioner in Nairobi, Kenya, having previously served as High Commissioner in Kampala, Uganda. Mr Wood, who was educated at Oxford and is married with one daughter, has also worked in Brussels, Bangkok and Washington.
Formerly, the Lieutenant Governor was, in essence, the executive head of the Government on the Island but in the last decade, the role of the Lieutenant Governor has become somewhat more vice-regal. Many of the governmental functions have now been transferred to the Council of Ministers or to Government Departments and in exercising the majority of his remaining functions the Lieutenant Governor acts on the advice of, and with the concurrence of, the Council of Ministers. However, he retains some important constitutional duties. In respect of parliamentary matters, for example, the Lieutenant Governor may dissolve the House of Keys and may, since 1981, grant Royal Assent on behalf of the Queen to designated Bills passed by Tynwald. The Lieutenant Governor usually presides over the St. John's Ceremony. However, if present on the Island, it is customary for the Sovereign to preside at St. John's and other members of the Royal Family may also preside under Letters Patent granted for that purpose.