Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - 10:10 Joe Garcia

A man of steel as Gibraltar’s next Governor

Vice Admiral Sir David Steel KBE, DL has been appointed Governor of Gibraltar in succession to Lieutenant General Edward Davis CB CBE. He has been Aide-de-Camp to HM The Queen, and has enjoyed a full career in the Royal Navy, joining at age 18 and retiring as a Vice Admiral and Second Sea Lord.

In his early career he held a number of sea and shore appointments, including as the Fleet Legal Adviser. In December 1999, while serving in the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, he was awarded a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in support of operations in Kosovo and Macedonia earlier that year, prior to assuming command of HM Naval Base Portsmouth.

He was Director of Service Personnel Policy (Pay and Allowances) at the Ministry of Defence in 2008 and then, in April 2010, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and appointed Naval Secretary. He was promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed Second Sea Lord in October 2012.

Retiring from the Navy, he has held a number of business and voluntary appointments.

It seems he will be well suited for his Gibraltar governorship, although given Gibraltar's constitutional advance, he will no longer be expected to be a hands-on Governor in the tradition of Governors in the past as the responsibilities of the incumbent at The Convent are not what they used to be.