2 minutes with...the Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire

Early March, SKA HQ was getting ready to host its first head of state, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, when the visit had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. As Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire, the county where SKA HQ is located, David Briggs played a key role in preparing the visit. We spoke to him about his work.

Tell us about what your role involves.

There is a Lord-Lieutenant in each county of the UK, who is the Queen’s representative and helps to organise royal visits among other things. I’ve been in this role for 10 years, and I was very involved in planning a visit of Her Majesty to the SKA HQ, which sadly had to be postponed because of the coronavirus. Each visit is meticulously planned, every minute is carefully considered to make sure the Queen meets all the people she ought to meet, and to coordinate with media and security services.

About 80% of my time is spent on community work and supporting local charities, including fundraising for those helping people during the current COVID-19 situation. My team of 43 deputies has also been finding ways to help National Health Service workers, such as sourcing fresh food and hand sanitiser, and making a counsellor available.

What did the preparations for the visit focus on?

It was about talking to the management of SKA to ensure the very most can be made of a relatively short visit. At least three months of preparation goes into such a visit to cover all the different elements, from policing to catering requirements and many other logistical details.

I was particularly keen for the Queen to visit the HQ because with Australia, South Africa and the UK as host countries, this is an extraordinary, exciting initiative involving Commonwealth members. Given the Queen is very passionate about the Commonwealth, I thought she would be very interested to see how they’ve been working together on what I describe as the “world’s biggest science project”. The plan is very much to reschedule the visit, although of course we can’t know a date yet.

What was your impression of the HQ as a home for the SKA, and in terms of what it means for the local area?

When I first visited my reaction was “wow”. It is so exciting – many people think of Cheshire as agricultural, but the SKA’s arrival makes people realise that the county is also a centre of world scientific expertise. I spend a lot of time speaking to schoolchildren and explaining why it’s so important to study STEM subjects at school, and showing them that there are so many opportunities to have fascinating careers in science and technology. Having the SKA HQ here is really helpful in selling Cheshire as a home for budding new scientists.

Credit: David Briggs