EXTERNAL recruitment for the government’s next chief executive will not begin until after the election in June – but the search is already under way behind closed doors, with the first phase of the process focused on identifying candidates from within government ranks.
At a scrutiny hearing yesterday, the Chief Minister confirmed that the current chief executive will leave at the end of December 2026, triggering plans to appoint a permanent successor for 2027.
Deputy Lyndon Farnham said: “We’ve been working on it for some time now, and first stage of that is looking at how or if we might be able to fill the role internally – that work is ongoing.”
He added that interviews are expected to begin “shortly after the June elections”, insisting it would be for the next government to take charge of appointing the Island’s most senior civil servant.
In the meantime, external recruitment consultants have been brought in to assess the strength of in-house talent.
A “number of people” within government have already been identified as capable of development into the role, though no individuals were named.
The Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel also heard that a preferred internal candidate could be appointed as deputy chief executive before current post-holder Andrew McLaughlin departs, allowing them to develop into the top job.
An interim chief executive has not been ruled out, but Deputy Farnham added: “For stability, we should be favouring a permanent chief executive.”
The current chief executive initially took up the post in September 2023 on a nine-month contract but this has since been extended, and he will now finish at the end of 2026 – making him the longest serving non-permanent leader the Island’s public service has ever had.
Dr McLaughlin insisted morale was not a concern regarding his succession, pointing to two “de facto deputies” already operating at assistant chief executive level who could step in if required.
He said past staff feedback had criticised the “mystery” surrounding previous chief executive appointments and the perceived lack of opportunity for internal candidates.
This new approach, he said, aims to “demystify” the process and build confidence.
The internal assessment process has included occupational psychological testing, numerical reasoning and a three-hour in-depth interview, completed in December.
Performance data covering four to five years analysed to identify high-performing senior staff that have the potential to take on the top job.
Internal candidates deemed to have potential will now progress to market benchmarking interviews to compare their skills against external talent and identify any gaps.
