John Vereker (governor)

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Sir John Michael Medlicott Vereker, KCB, FRSA (born 9 August 1944) was the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on the Atlantic Ocean from 2002 to 2007. He was appointed by the Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the British government, to represent the Queen in the territory, and to act as the de facto head of state.

Sir John Vereker was appointed Governor and Commander in Chief of Bermuda in April 2002, following a career largely in international finance and development. He was Permanent Secretary of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (and of its predecessor the Overseas Development Administration) from 1994 to 2002. He has also worked in the World Bank, from 1970 to 1972, and in the Prime Minister’s Office in 10 Downing Street, from 1980 to 1983. From 1988 to 1993 he was Deputy Secretary in the United Kingdom’s Department for Education and Science, responsible for higher education and science.

Sir John was Chairman of the Student Loans Company from 1989-1991. He has been a Board Member of the British Council, the Institute of Development Studies, the Institute of Manpower Studies, Voluntary Service Overseas, the Centre for Global Ethics and the British Consultancy and Construction Bureau. He has been an adviser to the UN Secretary-General’s Millennium Development Project and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a Vice Chairman of Raleigh International and a Companion of the Institute of Management. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Keele. He was awarded a CB in 1992 and a KCB in 1999. He was married in 1971; he and his wife Judy, Lady Vereker, have two children.

Sir John was succeeded as Governor in December 2007 by Sir Richard Gozney, KCMG.