Pages of History – The appointment of Lord Hailes as Governor General of West Indies Federation, 1958

Editor: From time to time I had made reference in my weekly SEARCHLIGHT column of a certain Lord Hailes, appointed by the British colonial government to be the first, and only, Governor General of the West Indies Federation. I found it interesting to read the debate in the British House of Lords, May 21, 1957 and to share these extracts from Hansard, the official record of the UK Parliament, for public enlightenment.

EXTRACTS

The Earl of Listowell rose to ask Her Majesty’s Government whether political leaders in the West Indies were consulted before the decision to recommend the appointment of the Governor General designate of the West Indies Federation.

The noble Earl said: “My Lords…The appointment of the Governor General designate of the West Indies Federation has occasioned… much more criticism than is usual in the making of similar appointments. I am therefore anxious to give the Government an opportunity to answer these criticisms, and to allay the anxiety that is felt by many people, both here and in the British West Indies, about this particular appointment, and the manner in which it has been made….
“The constitutional issue here is the nature and extent of consultation with political leaders before an appointment is made. In my view there should always be prior consultation with local leaders about the persons as well as the desirable qualifications for the post. It seems to me that the fullest possible consultation is essential, both for a satisfactory relationship between this country and the dependent territory in question, and also for mutual confidence between the Governor General, and the Ministers with whom he is going to work.

“…What the Prime minister has already indicated was that some of the West Indian political leaders were consulted about the ‘ type of qualifications’… but not ‘the individual’ proposed for this post. This reply is, I think, somewhat unsatisfactory in two respects. In the first place, whatever informal consultations took place in the West Indies they should surely have included the political leaders or representatives of all the five territorial units (Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands). Perhaps the noble Earl could say which of the West Indian leaders were, in fact, consulted for instance, and were any leaders of the Windward and Leeward Islands included in these consultations? If they were not consulted, perhaps we could be told the reason…“.

Yes, just one illustration in colonial democracy. The Leewards and Windwards were too small, too unimportant to be consulted.

History is a great teacher.

Renwick Rose