Martin Stanley is a former acting Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Early life and education

Stanley was born in 1948 and grew up in the North-East of England where he attended the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He then studied chemistry and economics at Oxford University.

Career

Stanley joined the civil service in 1971 and first worked in the Inland Revenue before moving to the Department of Trade and Industry where he held a number of senior positions. In particular, from 1990 to 1992, he was DTI's Principal Private Secretary, i.e. he led the teams which supported the day to day activities of the Secretary of State and other Ministers. Between 1992 and 1998 he led a number of teams responsible for the Government’s relations with the vehicle, steel, engineering, offshore oil/gas and international projects industries.

Stanley then transferred to the Cabinet Office where he was Director of the Regulatory Impact Unit.

In 2000, he was given the position of Chief Executive of the Postal Services Commission and from 2004 until 2009 he was Chief Executive of the UK’s Competition Commission. Three years in a row the commission was awarded five stars by competition practitioners polled by the Global Competition Review – the only competition authority outside the USA to achieve this recognition.

On 14 August 2009, Stanley was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the Public Sector in the Turks and Caicos Islands. He briefly acted as Governor from 22 August 2011 to 12 September 2011.

On 3 January 2012, Stanley was succeeded by Patrick Boyle as Chief Executive.