A new British official, in the person of Mr. Steve McCready, has taken up the appointment of Chief of Staff at the Governor’s Office in Anguilla.
He has succeeded Mrs. Catherine Firth who served as Head of the Governor’s Office and has now returned to the United Kingdom. In introducing Mr. McCready to reporters at his press conference on Tuesday, August 14, Governor Alistair Harrison said:
“Essentially the responsibilities will be similar [to those of Catherine firth]. We changed the title in order to clarify exactly what he does. I think most people didn’t fully comprehend what the Head of the Governor’s Office did. I think that the creation of the job goes back to the decision, which is now about seven or eight years ago, to appoint an Anguillian as Deputy Governor and Stanley Reid was appointed round about then. Previously, there had been a British Deputy Governor, appointed by the Foreign Office the last one beingMarkCapes. At the same time, the job of Head of the Governor’s Office was created and I think we really wanted to clarify that job.
“Steve’s main responsibility is to be, as it were, my Foreign Office Deputy, the second member of the Foreign Office staff here in Anguilla. A lot of my job, and probably most of his, is to liaise between the Government of Anguilla and the Foreign Office and indeed the wider British Government across a range of issues – from disaster management to internal security, finance and so on.”
Mr. McCready said he was delighted to be in Anguilla, having arrived just over four weeks ago. He stated that he had already met with personnel at the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Finance. His responsibilities include looking at howAnguillacomplies with its international obligations. He noted that in terms of disaster management, for which he also has responsibility, the current hurricane season was a key issue. He reported that there would be a visit of a Royal Auxiliary ship to Anguilla at the end of the month, and it was hoped that some of its activities would include matters related to hurricane management and what resources and services could be provided if required.
Over the past years, Mr. McCready served in various positions at the Foreign Office and at a number of British Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates as follows: 2002-2003: Resource Management Officer, Wider Europe, FCO, London; 2003-2005: Visa Entry Clearance Officer, British High Commission, Islamabad; 2006-2009: Political, Consular, Corporate Services work at British Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates General globally, including in South and Central America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia; 2009-2010: Assistant Private Secretary FCO Junior Ministers; 2010-2011: Private Secretary to FCO Minister to the House of Lords; 2011-June 2012: Political Section (External Issues), British Embassy, Tokyo; and now, from July this year to the present so far: Chief of Staff to the Governor’s Office in Anguilla.
