List of heads of state of the Bahamas

This is a list of the heads of state of the Bahamas, from the independence of The Bahamas in 1973 to the present day.

From 1973 the head of state under the Bahamas Independence Act 1973 is the Queen of the Bahamas, Elizabeth II, who is also the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented in the Bahamas by a Governor-General.

Monarch (1973–present)

The succession to the throne is the same as the succession to the British throne.

№	Monarch (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Reign		Royal House	Prime Minister
			Reign start	Reign end
1	Queen Elizabeth II (1926–)		10 July 1973	Incumbent	Windsor	Pindling Ingraham Christie Ingraham Christie Minnis

Governor-General

The Governor-General is the representative of the Monarch in the Bahamas and exercises most of the powers of the Monarch. The Governor-General is appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the Monarch. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Governor-General is appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of the Bahamas without the involvement of the British government. In the event of a vacancy the Chief Justice served as Officer Administering the Government.

Status

  Denotes Chief Justice acting as Officer Administering the Government

№	Governor-General (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Tenure		Monarch	Prime Minister
			Took office	Left office
1	Sir John Paul (1916–2004)		10 July 1973	31 July 1973	Elizabeth II	Pindling
2	Sir Milo Butler (1906–1979)		1 August 1973	22 January 1979 (died in office.)	Elizabeth II	Pindling
3 [1]	Sir Gerald Cash (1917–2003)		22 January 1979	25 June 1988	Elizabeth II	Pindling
4	Sir Henry Milton Taylor (1903–1994)		26 June 1986	28 February 1991	Elizabeth II	Pindling
			28 February 1991	1 January 1992
5	Sir Clifford Darling (1922–2011)		2 January 1992	2 January 1995	Elizabeth II	Pindling Ingraham
6	Sir Orville Turnquest (1929–)		2 January 1995	13 November 2001	Elizabeth II	Ingraham
7	Dame Ivy Dumont (1930–)		13 November 2001	1 January 2002	Elizabeth II	Ingraham Christie
			1 January 2002	30 November 2005
–	Paul Adderley (1928–2012)		1 December 2005	1 February 2006	Elizabeth II	Christie
8	Arthur Dion Hanna (1928–)		1 February 2006	14 April 2010	Elizabeth II	Christie Ingraham
9	Sir Arthur Foulkes (1928–)		14 April 2010	8 July 2014	Elizabeth II	Ingraham Christie
10	Dame Marguerite Pindling (1932–)		8 July 2014	Incumbent	Elizabeth II	Christie Minnis

Standards

• 
  Governor-General's Standard

Living former heads of state

There is four living former Bahamian Heads of State:

Image	Name	Term/Reign	Office	Date of birth
	Sir Orville Turnquest	1994–2001	Governor-General of the Bahamas	19 July 1929
	Dame Ivy Dumont	2001–2004	Governor-General of the Bahamas	2 October 1930
	Arthur Dion Hanna	2006–2011	Governor-General of the Bahamas	7 March 1928
	Sir Arthur Foulkes	2011–2014	Governor-General of the Bahamas	11 May 1928

References

1. Acted for Butler from 2 September 1976 until 22 January 1979 while he was incapacitated

External links

• World Statesmen – The Bahamas
• Rulers.org – The Bahamas