New Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the Royal Borough

19 April 2005

Councillor Richard Walker-Arnott has been appointed Representative Deputy Lieutenant Designate for Kensington and Chelsea following Sir Michael Craig-Cooper's elevation to Vice Lord-Lieutenant for Greater London. Councillor Walker-Arnott will undertake the majority of duties previously undertaken by Sir Michael until he formally takes up the full appointment as the Royal Borough's Representative Deputy Lieutenant next year.

Sir Michael, who is a former Alderman of the borough, has been the Royal Borough's Representative Deputy Lieutenant since 1987 and he replaces Field Marshal Sir John Chapple as Vice Lord-Lieutenant for Greater London. He was elected as a Chelsea Councillor in 1968 and was associated with the Council as both Councillor and Alderman until 1978. He continues to serve as a member of the Council's Investment Committee.

The Lord-Lieutenant is the Sovereign's representative in Greater London (but not the City). The office dates back to the time of Henry VIII when it was created for the appointment of order and military purposes relating to local defence. Each London borough has a Representative Deputy Lieutenant whose job it is to act for the Lord-Lieutenant within the borough, a system which originated in 1951 with the then Lord-Lieutenant, Field Marshal the Viscount Alanbrooke who instituted it with the Sovereign's approval.

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