13th March 2017

Sir Stephen Dalton is appointed Lieutenant Governor

Sir Stephen Dalton was born in Leicester and pursued an active and successful career in the military, which culminated in his appointment as Jersey’s 42nd Lieutenant Governor on 13 March 2017. In that position he would act as the monarch’s personal representative on the island for the following five years.

Dalton joined the Royal Air Force in 1976 after graduating from Bath University with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. However, he would not spend his career working in a hangar: he was destined for a life in the air, initially flying Jaguar aircraft on Cold War missions from both the UK and Germany.

An army man

He was intimately involved in preparations for and Britain’s involvement in Iraq following the country’s invasion by US-led forces in 2003, which marked one of the largest deployments of British military personnel since the Second World War. The territory would already have been familiar to him as he had flown missions to enforce the southern no-fly zone there in the early-1990s following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Later in his career, Dalton was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the procurement and implementation of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, and in 2009 was appointed Chief of the Air Staff. He remained in this role until 2013, during which he was knighted.

The position of Lieutenant Governor of Jersey has its own flag and an official residence, Government House in St Helier. The flag is an amalgamation of the Union Flag (sometimes called Union Jack) with the shield of Jersey at its centre. Although a member of the States of Jersey, the Lieutenant Governor had very little involvement with the chamber other than acting as liaison between it and the crown. He or she does not vote in the States, and only addresses it directly upon their investiture and departure from the office.