Lieutenant governor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Lieutenant Governor or Lieutenant-Governor is a government official who is the subordinate or deputy of a Governor or Governor-General. In India this position is slightly different.
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[edit] Present Commonwealth states
[edit] Australia
While Australia was a collection of colonies of Britain, lieutenant-governors ran Australian colonies that were initially subordinate to the colony of New South Wales, such as Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) or the Bay of Islands (New Zealand).
Today there are still Lieutenant-Governors in Australia. Constitutionally Lieutenant-Governors, Administrators and the Chief Justices of the State Supreme Courts are normally separate offices[1] [2] in the Australian states, however in many states most notably New South Wales[3], Victoria[4] and South Australia[5] the role of Lieutenant-Governor is played by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In 2001, the Constitution of Queensland was amended to restore the office of Lieutenant-Governor in that state. When a Governor-General or state Governor dies, resigns, or is absent, an Administrator, or acting Governor, would be appointed. In the case of the Governor-General this officer is styled as an Administrator, while in the case of State Governors this officer may either be an Administrator or the Lieutenant-Governor. The state Lieutenant-Governors/Administrators have no standing powers but stand ready to take up the Governor's role.
[edit] Canada
In Canada, the lieutenant-governor (sometimes without a hyphen, pronounced /lɛfˈtɛ.nənt/), in French lieutenant-gouverneur (always with a hyphen), is the Queen's, or Crown, representative in a province, much as the Governor General is her representative at the national level. The Lieutenant-Governor is therefore the province's vice-regal representative, but the occupant rarely exercises the executive role apart from with the advice of the relevant provincial Premier. Similar positions in Canada's three territories are termed Commissioners and are representatives of the federal government, however, not the Queen directly.
[edit] India
- See also: List of Governors of India
In India, a Lieutenant-Governor is in charge of a Union Territory. He is given almost the same powers chief ministers have over their states. However the rank is given just to the 4 union territories of Chandigarh, Delhi, Pondicherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Lieutenant-governors hold the same rank as a governor of a state in the list of precedence.
The other 3 territories have an administrator appointed, who is an IAS officer.
[edit] New Zealand
The only person to have held the rank of Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand was Captain William Hobson, RN from 1839 - 1841, during which time the New Zealand colony was a dependency of the colony of New South Wales, governed at that time by Sir George Gipps. When New Zealand was designated a crown colony in 1841, Hobson was raised to the rank of Governor, which he held until his death the following year.
Subsequently in 1848 New Zealand was divided into three provinces: New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster, each with their own Lieutenant Governors.
[edit] Channel Islands
In the British Crown Dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey the Lieutenant Governor is the Queen's representative, but the post is largely ceremonial, with executive power remaining with each Island's elected administration. The post was originally created in 1259 following the Treaty of Paris as Warden. This was subsequently renamed Governor and again changed to Lieutenant Governor.
[edit] Isle of Man
In the Isle of Man, the Lieutenant Governor was until 1980 the presiding officer of the Legislative Council and of Tynwald Court (the Legislative Council and the House of Keys in joint session), but both roles have been transferred to the President of Tynwald. Now, the Lieutenant Governor only presides once a year on Tynwald Day. On the 19 October 2005 Tynwald approved proposals to change the title of the Lieutenant Governor to Crown Commissioner or Barrantagh y Chrooin as he/she will be known in Manx. This Bill must now go before the Lord of Mann Elizabeth II for Royal Assent before it becomes law.[1]
See also Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, List of Lieutenant Governors of Jersey, List of Lieutenant Governors of Guernsey
[edit] United States
See also: List of United States Lieutenant Governors
In the United States, the office of Lieutenant Governor (pronounced /luˈtɛ.nənt/) is the second-highest executive office in a state and is nominally subordinate to the Governor. The procedure for election of Lieutenant Governor varies from state to state with 24 states having the Governor and Lieutenant Governor elected as running mates on a joint ticket (for example in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Maryland), while in 18 states, the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor run separately. The latter can cause the Governor and Lieutenant Governor to be from different parties and bitter political rivals (such as is often the case in California, Rhode Island, Virginia and Alabama).
In the U.S. the main duty of the Lieutenant Governor is to act as Governor should the Governor be temporarily absent from the office. In addition, the Lieutenant Governor generally succeeds a Governor who dies or resigns. In most states, the Lieutenant Governor then becomes Governor, with the title and its associated salary, office, and privileges. In a few states, like Massachusetts, the Lieutenant Governor instead becomes "Acting Governor" until the next election.
Other than this primary constitutional duty, most state constitutions do not prescribe the duties of the Lieutenant Governor in detail.
- In a few states such as Hawaii and Utah, the position of Lieutenant Governor is equivalent to that of Secretary of State.
- In some states the Lieutenant Governor is the Speaker of the upper house of the legislature. In the states of Mississippi and Texas, the Lieutenant Governor, elected separately from the Governor, presides over the State Senate, and by convention and legislative rule has a great deal more influence on legislation than the Governor. Thus, when a Lieutenant Governor of Texas becomes Governor, they assume a higher office, but lose some of their previous authority.
In Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and West Virginia the President of the state Senate assumes the office of Governor upon a vacancy. In November 2005, New Jersey voters approved a constitutional amendment to create the office of Lieutenant Governor. The office will be officially enacted following the 2009 general election. Even though the West Virginia Constitution establishes no such office, West Virginia Code 6A-1-4 assigns the title of Lieutenant Governor to the Senate President. In Tennessee, the full title of the leader of the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate. John S. Wilder was elected to that post in 1971 and held the Office until 2006, when he was replaced by Ron Ramsey. He had been both the longest-serving and oldest Lieutenant Governor in the United States.
Arizona, Oregon and Wyoming also do not have a Lieutenant Governor. In these three states and Puerto Rico, the Secretary of State becomes Governor upon the office's vacancy.
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands have the office of Lieutenant Governor.
The office of Lieutenant Governor existed in all of the 17th- and 18th-century British colonies that later became the initial thirteen United States of America. The defining difference between the Lieutenant Governor and the Royal Governor was that the Lieutenant Governor would be required to live in the colony to which he was appointed. Also, the Royal Governor would be paid directly by the crown, where as the Lieutenant Governor would be paid by the colonial treasury.
[edit] Other former colonial positions
(incomplete list)
- British Lieutenant-Governor of Tangiers
[edit] Sources
- ^ New South Wales Constitution Part 2A Section 9B
- ^ Queensland Constitution
- ^ NSW Governor and Parliament Directory with Lieutenant Governor
- ^ Victoria Governor Directory with Lieutenant-Governor (link dead)
- ^ website of the Governor of South Australia – section on Lieutenant Governors
[edit] Further reading
- George F.G. Stanley, The Role of the Lieutenant-Governor: A Seminar. Fredericton: Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, 1992.
