Ascension : NEXT ST HELENA GOVERNOR NAMED
Submitted by The Islander (Public Relations Information Office) 17.07.2011 (Article Archived on 31.07.2011)
The next Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha is to be Mark Andrew Capes, a member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service. He will be accompanied by his wife, Tamara.
NEXT ST HELENA GOVERNOR NAMED
By H. E. the Governor Mr Andrew Gurr
The next Governor of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha is to be Mark Andrew Capes, a member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service. He will be accompanied by his wife, Tamara.
Mr. Capes is at present the Chief Executive Officer of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government and has held the position of Deputy Governor in both Bermuda and Anguilla. His career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also taken him to Portugal, Jordan, Yugoslavia, Nigeria, Austria and New Zealand.
Asked to comment on his appointment, Mr. Capes said:
“I am delighted to have been given this exciting opportunity to serve as Governor for the people of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha at such an important juncture in the history of the islands. As work advances to develop improved access to St Helena, I have no doubt that adjusting to change will bring many new challenges. I know too, from experience in other Overseas Territories, how change may sometimes feel uncomfortable and so I will do my part to ensure that change is managed with sensitivity while enabling as many people as possible to embrace new opportunities to achieve greater prosperity. The broad objective must be to secure a brighter, more confident future for all, while respecting the importance and value of history, custom and culture.”
Tamara and I very much look forward to being part of your community.”
Mr. Capes has the benefit of having visited 6 Overseas Territories and worked in 3 of them for a total of over 12 years, and has said that he finds work in the OT’s “particularly rewarding”. He enjoys spending time with his family and has two daughters, Alexandra who works in London and Sarah, who will shortly begin a second Master’s degree course in London. Mr Capes’ leisure interests include sea and fresh water fishing as well as music “from Bob Marley to Mozart”. His wife is a keen tennis player and also enjoys reading and working as a volunteer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Mr and Mrs Capes are scheduled to arrive here on Saturday 29th October, which means a 5 week interregnum as Jean and I will be leaving on 23rd September. I am confident that the Capes’ will enjoy their time here every bit as much as we have.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ST HELENA’S GOVERNOR DESIGNATE
Having visited six Overseas Territories and worked in three of them for a total of 12 years, Mr. Capes has gained a good understanding of the challenges and opportunities common to many small islands. After his first taste of working in an Overseas Territory, in the Turks and Caicos Islands from 1991 -1994, he maintained his new interest in the development of small islands while serving for five years in his next posting as First Secretary at the British High Commission in New Zealand, where he was also accredited to Western Samoa. His visits to Western Samoa, plus a watching brief on developments in other Pacific Islands, fuelled his ambition to seek further appointments in the Overseas Territories. Mr. Capes commented, "While I have much enjoyed all of my postings in the Diplomatic Service at Embassies and High Commissions, I found the work in the Overseas Territories particularly rewarding. In an Overseas Territory the work is always varied, frequently very challenging and presents a real opportunity to make a difference - hopefully for the better! I am truly thrilled to have the opportunity now to use this experience to serve the people of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha."
During his career Mr. Capes has travelled widely, especially in the Caribbean, North America, Europe, West Africa and Australasia. He says that a job he particularly enjoyed when working in London in the Foreign Office was as Deputy Head of the Parliamentary Relations Department, a position which required him to spend much of his time in the House of Commons assisting FCO Ministers to prepare for debates and to answer parliamentary questions, "It was an extremely demanding job that entailed very long hours but I was working at the heart of the FCO, working closely with Ministers and MPs, and from that privileged position had an overview of the work of the entire Foreign Office". He added, "That job also took me around the world in my capacity as Foreign Affairs Adviser to delegations of UK MPs and members of the House of Lords travelling overseas on Inter-Parliamentary Union business. In that role I accompanied UK parliamentary delegations to Cuba, Indonesia, Jordan, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast."
For leisure Mr. Capes enjoys spending quality time with his family, "We are a close family that has always enjoyed travelling together to new places and revisiting our favourite ones; by the time my children were teenagers they had probably travelled more and further than many people would in a lifetime". To relax Mr. Capes enjoys sea and fresh water fishing and music, "from Bob Marley to Mozart".
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