Alderney chief executive understood to have left States
ALDERNEY will soon be looking for its fifth chief executive in the last five years, as further political turmoil has gripped the northern island.
It is understood current chief executive, Theo Leijser, who had been in the role less than a year, was asked to accept a compromise agreement after a behind-closed-doors meeting of the Policy & Finance committee on Monday. Mr Leijser, the island’s highest ranking civil servant, was appointed after a year in which the States treasurer had acted as temporary chief executive following the departure of the previous chief executive, Kathryn Jones, who resigned after less than two years in the role.
Her predecessor, Andrew Muter, held the role for three years from November 2017 to November 2020. He had originally resigned earlier, but was persuaded to stay on longer after the Covid outbreak.
The Policy and Finance committee includes all current states members including two, Boyd Kelly and Lin Maurice, who lost their seats at the General Election in November, but are not due to step down until January.
Until he resigned at the weekend, the P&F committee had been headed by Nigel Vooght.
In his resignation statement Mr Vooght cited a recent breakdown in his relationship with States of Alderney president William Tate as a key reason for his decision.
Mr Vooght was praised in the official media release from the States of Alderney by Mr Leijser, who said his ‘clarity of thought and tenacity will be greatly missed’.
Mr Leijser had previously been the chief executive for Isles of Scilly Council from 2014 to 2019, and before that worked at the South West Regional Development Agency.
No mention of Mr Leijser’s resignation was made during the States of Alderney meeting yesterday afternoon.
The States of Alderney media officer was contacted for comment but the Guernsey Press were informed he had also resigned his role this week.
