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Commonwealth Chair-in-Office

Leadership position in the Commonwealth of Nations

Leadership position in the Commonwealth of Nations

FieldValue
postChair-in-Office
bodythe
Commonwealth of Nations
imageLaʻauli Leuatea Schmidt in 2023.jpg
insigniacaptionLogo used to represent the Commonwealth of Nations
insigniasize180px
incumbentLaʻauli Leuatea Schmidt
incumbentsince16 September 2025
termlength2 years
inauguralThabo Mbeki
formation12 November 1999
websiteChair-in-Office

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth Chair-in-Office (CIO) is the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth of Nations, and is one of the main leadership positions in the Commonwealth. It is held by the host chairperson of the previous Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), and is maintained until the next CHOGM. Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt, Prime Minister of Samoa, is the current Chair-in-Office of the association since 16 September 2025.

Overview

The primary responsibility of the Chair-in-Office is to host the CHOGM, but their roles can be expanded. For example, after the 2002 CHOGM, the incumbent, previous, and next Chairmen-in-Office formed a troika in an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute over Zimbabwe's membership of the Commonwealth.

The position was created after the 1999 CHOGM, with Thabo Mbeki becoming the first Chair-in-Office. However, Mbeki did very little to develop the position, leaving it virtually vacant until the next CHOGM in 2002, when the troika was created. Even after John Howard became Chair, the troika's first meeting was in London, in the presence of the Commonwealth Secretary-General. The third Chair, Olusegun Obasanjo, did more to invigorate the role of the position after taking over in 2003.

From the assumption of the role at the 2009 CHOGM, representatives from Trinidad and Tobago, including the Prime Ministers, attended Commonwealth meetings, including 2011 Commonwealth Day celebrations where Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the first woman to chair the Commonwealth, gave the keynote address. Sri Lanka was due to host the Commonwealth Economic Forum in 2011 but it was held instead in Perth, Western Australia, due to accusations of war crimes committed during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

As Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard succeeded Persad-Bissessar as the second female Chair at the 2011 CHOGM. Julia Gillard was in-turn succeeded by Kevin Rudd after she resigned as Prime Minister of Australia on 27 June 2013. Rudd went on to lose the Australian federal election in September 2013, and consequently was succeeded as Commonwealth's CiO by the new prime minister Tony Abbott. Abbott remained in the position until Commonwealth leaders met for the 23rd time on 15 November 2013, where he was succeeded by the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was succeeded by Maithripala Sirisena in 2015.

List of chairs-in-office

No.ImageNameCountryTitleCHOGMStartEndSecretary-General
1[[File:SthAfrica.ThaboMbeki.01 (cropped).jpg80px]]Thabo MbekiSouth Africa South AfricaPresident199912 November 19992 March 2002NGR Emeka Anyaoku
NZL Don McKinnon
2[[File:John Howard, Feb. 2003-2.jpg80px]]John HowardAUS AustraliaPrime Minister20022 March 20025 December 2003
3[[File:Olusegun Obasanjo 2001-05-10 (002).jpg80px]]Olusegun ObasanjoNigeria NigeriaPresident20035 December 200325 November 2005
4[[File:Lawrence Gonzi 2009.jpg80px]]Lawrence GonziMalta MaltaPrime Minister200525 November 200523 November 2007
5[[File:Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.jpg80px]]Yoweri MuseveniUganda UgandaPresident200723 November 200727 November 2009
IND Kamalesh Sharma
6[[File:Patrick Manning 2008.jpg80px]]title=Former Trinidad PM Manning resigns as political leaderurl=http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/trinidad/trinidad.php?news_id=23374&start=0&category_id=17publisher=CaribbeanNetNewsdate=28 May 2010access-date=29 May 2010quote=Trinidad and Tobago's former prime minister Patrick Manning has handed in his resignation as political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM), three days after being defeated at the polls.archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728005702/http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/trinidad/trinidad.php?news_id=23374&start=0&category_id=17archive-date=28 July 2010url-status=dead }}Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and TobagoPrime Minister200927 November 200925 May 2010
7[[File:Kamla Persad-Bissesar 2013.jpg80px]]title=Kamla now Commonwealth Chairurl=http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,121594.htmlnewspaper=Trinidad and Tobago Newsdaydate=29 May 2010access-date=29 May 2010quote=The position she has inherited from former prime minister Patrick Manning following the nation’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November, 2009. In a statement issued yesterday, the Royal Commonwealth Society congratulated Persad-Bissessar on her appointment as Prime Minister and also praised the conduct of her election campaign. }}26 May 201028 October 2011
8[[File:Gillard.jpg80px]]Julia GillardAUS AustraliaPrime Minister201128 October 201127 June 2013
9[[File:Kevin Rudd portrait.jpg80px]]Kevin Rudd27 June 201318 September 2013
10[[File:Prime Minister Tony Abbott.jpg80px]]Tony Abbott18 September 201315 November 2013
11[[File:Mahinda Rajapaksa.jpg80px]]Mahinda RajapaksaSri Lanka Sri LankaPresident201315 November 20139 January 2015
12[[File:Maithripala Sirisena (cropped).jpg80px]]Maithripala Sirisena9 January 201527 November 2015
13[[File:Joseph muscat 2018 cropped v2.jpg80px]]Joseph MuscatMalta MaltaPrime Minister201527 November 201519 April 2018
GBR Dominica Patricia Scotland
14[[File:Theresa May in 2017 (cropped).jpg80px]]Theresa MayUnited Kingdom United KingdomPrime Minister201819 April 201824 July 2019
15[[File:Boris Johnson official portrait (cropped).jpg80px]]Boris Johnson24 July 201924 June 2022
16[[File:Paul Kagame 2014.jpg80px]]Paul KagameRwanda RwandaPresident202224 June 202225 October 2024
rowspan"2"17rowspan"2"[[File:Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa in 2024 (cropped).jpg106x106px]]rowspan"2"Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafarowspan"2"Samoa Samoarowspan"2"Prime Ministerrowspan"2"2024rowspan"2"25 October 2024rowspan"2"16 September 2025
18[[File:Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt in 2023.jpg106x106px]]Laʻauli Leuatea SchmidtSamoa SamoaPrime Minister202416 September 2025Incumbent
Ghana Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey

Footnotes

References

  1. "Our History". The Commonwealth.
  2. Ingram, Derek. (January 2004). "Abuja Notebook". [[The Round Table Journal.
  3. WEERASINGHE, Chamikara. "President will be C' wealth Chairman for next two years - GL".
  4. (28 May 2010). "Former Trinidad PM Manning resigns as political leader". CaribbeanNetNews.
  5. (29 May 2010). "Kamla now Commonwealth Chair". [[Trinidad and Tobago Newsday]].
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