The governor of the Falkland Islands is the representative of the

British Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

, acting "in His Majesty's name and on His Majesty's behalf" as the islands' ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

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 ...

in the absence of the British monarch. The role and powers of the governor are set out in Chapter II of the

Falkland Islands Constitution The Falkland Islands Constitution is a predominantly codified constitution documented primarily within the ''Falkland Islands Constitution Order 2008'', a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom. The Constitution, in its present form, was made o ...

. The governor in office resides at Government House, which serves as the official residence.

History

The history of the leadership on the islands is closely related to the

history of the Falkland Islands The history of the Falkland Islands ( es, Islas Malvinas) goes back at least five hundred years, with active exploration and colonisation only taking place in the 18th century. Nonetheless, the Falkland Islands have been a matter of controversy ...

themselves. The first settlement on the islands was at Port St. Louis and was led by

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolutio ...

, the administrator of the French settlement which started in 1764 and ended three years later. The first leader of a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

settlement was John McBride, captain of HMS ''Jason'', in 1766 at Port Egmont (the settlement being established a year earlier). The French settlement of Port St. Louis was transferred to the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad, the first Spanish military administrator being Felipe Ruíz Puente. The British chose to withdraw from many overseas settlements in 1776 owing to the pressure of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The Spanish settlement ended in 1811 as a result of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

. In 1829 Luis Vernet was proclaimed Military and Civil Commander of Puerto Luis (the Falklands) by the

United Provinces of South America United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, which elicited a protest from the British government. In 1831, Vernet seized three US vessels and imprisoned their crews for contravening his regulations on sealing, prompting a raid by the USS ''Lexington''. In response, 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 ...

sent a task force to reassert British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands in 1833. The Falklands were then settled, mainly by

people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

from

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The first governor of the Falklands was

Richard Clement Moody Richard Clement Moody Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of France (13 February 1813 – 31 March 1887) was a British governor, engineer, architect and soldier. He is best known for being the founder and the first Lieutenant ...

, who was governor from 1841 to 1848 (the post was renamed 'governor' from 'lieutenant-governor' in 1843). Moody selected the site for and founded Stanley and

Moody Brook Moody Brook is a small watercourse that flows into Stanley Harbour on East Falkland, Falkland Islands. It is near Stanley, just to the north west, and was formerly the location of the town barracks, which were attacked in Operation Rosario, ...

is named after him. There was then a British government on the islands until 1982 when the Falklands were

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

and

occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

for 74 days. During this time, the British governor (

Sir Rex Hunt Sir Rex Masterman Hunt, (29 June 1926 – 11 November 2012) was a British Government diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor, Commander-in-Chief, and Vice Admiral of the Falkland Islands (and concurrently High Commissioner of th ...

) was expelled and General of Brigade Mario Menéndez was appointed 'Military Governor of the Malvinas,

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oc ...

' ( es, Gobernador Militar de las Islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur) by the

Argentine military junta The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...

. Following the Argentine surrender at the end of the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...

, the British governor returned and it was decided that the

government of the Falkland Islands The politics of the Falkland Islands takes place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary representative democratic dependency as set out by the constitution, whereby the Governor exercises the duties of head of state in ...

should be modernised. In 1985 the Constitution of the Falklands came into force which greatly reduced the power of the governor, making the office more accountable to the

Executive Council of the Falkland Islands The Executive Council of the Falkland Islands is the policy making body of the Government of the Falkland Islands, Government of the Falkland Islands, exercising executive power by advising the Governor of the Falkland Islands, Governor. It has an ...

and creating in law a new post of

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, to which many powers of the governor were delegated. In 2009 a new constitution was established which further defined the role and powers of the governor.

Appointment and powers

The governor is appointed by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

on the advice of his

secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

in the

. The appointment is actually made by a royal commission under the

royal sign-manual The royal sign-manual is the signature of the sovereign, by the affixing of which the monarch expresses his or her pleasure either by order, commission, or warrant. A sign-manual warrant may be either an executive act (for example, an appointmen ...

. Under the Constitution, executive authority of the Falkland Islands is vested in the King, and his authority is exercised on his behalf by the governor. The governor normally only executes executive power on the advice of the

, which consists of three elected members of the Legislative Assembly, the

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and the director of finance. In addition, the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and the commander of the British Forces in the South Atlantic attend council meetings by invitation, although they cannot vote in the council meetings. The governor also acts as the presiding officer of the Executive Council. Acting on the advice of the Executive Council, the governor has the power to call a meeting of the Executive Council, dissolve the Legislative Assembly and call a

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

proclamation A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...

, recall a dissolved Assembly, give

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

to laws passed by the Legislative Assembly, and disallow or reintroduce a law passed by the Legislative Assembly. The governor also appoints the members and can remove members of the

Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy The politics of the Falkland Islands takes place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary representative democratic dependency as set out by the constitution, whereby the Governor exercises the duties of head of state in the ...

after consulting the Legislative Assembly. On the advice of the advisory committee, the governor may grant

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

s to anyone convicted of any offence, as well as commute or remit any sentence of any person convicted on the islands. In most cases, the governor must consult with the Executive Council and accept its advice. There are exceptions, however, set out in the constitution, when the governor is permitted to not consult the council and even go against its advice, but in this eventuality, the governor is required to inform the secretary of state in the United Kingdom of the reasons for this action, and in the case of blocking laws passed by the Legislative Assembly, the secretary of state must give prior authorisation. Under section 67 of the constitution, the governor may go against the advice of the council if in his or her judgement, it would be right to do so in the interests of good governance or if such advice would affect external affairs, defence, internal security (including the

police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

), administration of justice, audit, appointments to the public service, the discipline and removal from office of public officers, and the management of the public service. In all these instances the members of the Executive Council can appeal to the secretary of state. The governor is also responsible for the defence and internal security of the Falklands (with the exception of police matters), although the governor is constitutionally obliged to consult with the commander of the British Forces on such matters.

Acting governor

If the office of governor ever becomes vacant or if the incumbent governor is absent from the Falklands or unable to perform his or her duties, the King, on the advice of his secretary of state, can appoint an acting governor under section 24 of the constitution. The acting governor must take the oath before assuming office and has all the powers and duties of the governor until a new governor is appointed or the incumbent governor is able to carry on with his or her duties.

Oath or affirmation

Under section 23(3) of the constitution, before entering upon the functions of his or her office, the governor must take the

oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. Fo ...

and the oath of office. The wording for the oath of office is specified in Annex B to the Constitution:

References

* * * * *

{{British dependencies governors

Westminster system