The Lord-Lieutenant and Vice Lord-Lieutenant

Ian Dudson is the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire

Ian Dudson was appointed as Lord-Lieutenant on 29 March 2012. Ian was an industrialist whose family business, manufacturing ceramic tableware for the worldwide hospitality industry, had been based in Stoke on Trent since 1800. 

Ian was awarded the CBE for services to the ceramics industry in 2002 and made a Knight of the Order of St John in 2017. 

Prior to this appointment he was a Deputy Lieutenant since 2001 and was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 2010-11. He was Pro-Chancellor of Keele University and Chair of Council from 2005-2012, he was also a founding member of the Local Enterprise Partnership. 

Currently he is Chair of the Trustees of The Dudson Centre, which acts as a resource centre for voluntary groups and he is also a Council member at Lichfield Cathedral and a Trustee at Beaudesert Trust. In his roleas Custos Rotulorum he chaired the Magistrates Advisory Committee for Staffordshire and for the first 2 years, the ewly formed Staffordshire & West Mercia Magistrates Advisory Committee.

He is President of 9 Staffordshire based organisations namely:-

• Douglas Macmillan Hospice,
• Tennis Staffordshire,
• Staffordshire Community Foundation,
• Staffordshire Branch CPRE,
• Scouting Staffordshire,
• SSAFA Staffordshire,
• St John County Priory Group,
• Lichfield Festival.

Staffordshire Magistrates Association he was a former President and now a Vice-President of the West Midlands Reserves and Cadets Association.

He is also Patron of the Wildlife Trust Staffordshire, Trent and Mersey Canal Society, Lichfield Science and Engineering Society, Ministry at Work, the Friends of Staffordshire and West Midlands (North Sector) Army Cadet Force, Kendall & Wall Charitable Trust, Society of Staffordshire Artists and Joint Patron of Shropshire and Staffordshire Blood Bikes, Burslem Port, Lichfield Cathedral Friends, Peel Society and an Honorary Patron of the Pathway Project in Lichfield.

(Photograph courtesey of Derek Tamea Photography)

Vice Lord-Lieutenant

The Vice Lord-Lieutenant, with Her Majesty the Queen's approval is appointed by the Lord Lieutenant from one of the deputies. The Vice Lord-Lieutenant carries out the normal duties of the Lord-Lieutenant should they be away, ill or unable to attend an event. The Vice Lord-Lieutenant would normally stand down from their position when a new Lord-Lieutenant is appointed. However this can be extended at the discretion of the Lord-Lieutenant.

The age of retirement for Vice Lord-Lieutenants is, as for Lord-Lieutenants, 75.

Lord-Lieutenants are required to appoint Deputy Lieutenants within an establishment that varies according to the population of the county. In Staffordshire a maximum of 58 Deputy Lieutenants may be appointed. They are appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant, subject only to Her Majesty not approving the Commission. The letters 'DL' appear after their names. You can view a full list of Deputy Lieutenants.

The Vice-Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire is Mr James Leavesley, DL who was appointed on 29 April 2019 following the retirement of Mr Graham Stowe, CBE,  DL who has retired from the post at the age of 75.

Mr Leavesley was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant in 2011 and has undertaken a key role in the promotion and recognition of the business and enterprise sector within the county.  He has been the Chief Executive of the Leavesley Group of companies since 2000 and is married with a son and a daughter.