Politics of Saint Helena takes place in a framework of limited self-government as a

dependent territory A dependent territory, dependent area, or dependency (sometimes referred as an external territory) is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the controlli ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, whereby the Governor is the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

, an island in the southern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, is a part of the

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha including Gough Island. Its name wa ...

. It has had its present constitution since 1 September 2009.

Executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

is exercised by the Governor and the Executive Council.

Legislative power A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

is vested in both the Governor and the Legislative Council. The

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. Saint Helena had until 2009 two dependencies:

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

and

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena ...

. These territories have their own political structures with Administrators under the

Governor of Saint Helena The Governor of Saint Helena is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the official advice of His Majesty ...

. They are now equal parts of

along with St Helena itself.

Executive branch

, align=left,

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

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 ...

, , 8 September 2022 , - ,

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 ...

and Commander-in-Chief ,

Nigel Phillips Air Commodore Nigel James Phillips, (born 10 May 1963) is a British diplomat, former Royal Air Force officer and former Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. He has served as Gov ...

, , 13 August 2022 The Executive Council consists of the Governor, three ''ex officio'' officers (one, the Attorney General, having no vote), and five elected members of the Legislative Council. The monarch is the reigning monarch of the

and is hereditary; 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_es ...

. The Chief Secretary is the main advisor to the Governor on the island and runs the administrative side of the government, which is based at The Castle in the capital, Jamestown. Currently, the five elected members of the Legislative Council (along with the committees they were selected to chair on) who now serves on the Executive Council are: # Lawson Arthur Henry (Economic Development Committee) #

Christine Scipio-O'Dean Christine Scipio-O'Dean (born 1971St Helena GovernmentChristine Scipio-O’Dean(2018)) is a politician from Saint Helena, who was a supporter of the approval of same-sex marriage in Saint Helena. Career Scipio-O'Dean was first elected councillor ...

(Education Committee) # Derek Franklin Thomas (Public Health Committee) # Anthony Green (Social and Community) # Russell Yon (Environment & Natural) In January 2013 it was proposed that the Executive Council would be led by a "Chief Councillor" who would be elected by the members of the Legislative Council and would nominate the other members of the Executive Council. These proposals were put to a referendum on 23 March 2013 where they were defeated by 158 votes to 42 on a 10% turnout.

Legislative branch

The Legislative Council has 15 members, 12 members elected for a four-year term by popular vote and 3 members ''ex officio''. This arrangement gives the governing of Saint Helena an aspect of

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represen ...

Political parties and elections

Saint Helena, along with both

and

, does not have any active political parties, but no law forbids the formation of political parties; hence, the territory is a de facto

non-partisan democracy Nonpartisan democracy (also no-party democracy) is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties. Sometimes electioneering and even speaking a ...

. The

Saint Helena Labour Party The Saint Helena Labour Party was a political party on the island of Saint Helena (a British crown colony). The party was founded in 1974.Aldrich, Robert, and John Connell. The Last Colonies'. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. p. 138 D ...

and

Saint Helena Progressive Party The Saint Helena Progressive Party was a political party on the island of Saint Helena (a British crown colony). The party favoured retaining economic links with the United Kingdom. The Saint Helena Progressive Party was founded in 1973. Its found ...

existed until 1976. In the most recent general election, the twelve elected members are: # Julie Dorne Thomas (888 votes) # Andrew James Turner (834 votes) # Corinda Sebastiana Stuart Essex (827 votes)* # Martin Dave Henry (750 votes) # Jeffrey Robert Ellick (688 votes)* # Ronald Arthur Coleman (678 votes) # Karl Gavin Thrower (611 votes) # Gillian Ann Brooks (561 votes) # Mark Alan Brooks (533 votes) # Christine Lilian Scipio (532 votes)* # Robert Charles Midwinter (485 votes) # Rosemary June Bargo (456 votes) : An asterisk (*) denotes a sitting incumbent MLC who was duly re-elected.

Judicial branch

The territory has four courts of its own: *Court of Appeal *

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

*Magistrates Court *Juvenile Court The

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

, in London, is the final court of appeal for the territory however, as is the case with all other British overseas territories.

International organization participation

ITUC The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); german: Internationaler Gewerkschaftsbund (IGB), link=no; es, Confederación Sindical Internacional (CSI), link=no. is the world's largest trade union federation. History The federation w ...

References

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