Cllr Isaacs Visits CPA

Councillor Brian Isaac departed on the RMS St Helena on Thursday, 1 May to attend the Commonwealth Parliamentary Visit in London from 7 to 23 May.

Elected as a Councillor for Longwood in 2001, this is Councillor Isaac’s first visit to the CPA. In 2001 he attended a "sponsored" visit to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a Member of Legislative Council.

He arrives at Brize Norton today where he will be met by the St Helena Government UK Representative, Kedell Worboys. This evening, he will attend an informal supper at the Commonwealth Club in London.

The visit consists of four days in London, a week’s tour by coach, including visits to Manchester and Jersey, and a final week at Westminster. St Helena has a connection with Manchester and Jersey, having been represented at the Manchester Games last year, and at the Island Games in Jersey.

As part of the visit, Councillor Isaac will visit the Commonwealth Secretariat, attend discussion sessions, and will also attend a session of Parliament with MPs. All visitors were asked to suggest a subject of current interest for discussion by delegates and Councillor Isaac has chosen constitutional development. This is a topical subject on St Helena with recent visits by the Independent Constitutional Advisor and a senior team from the FCO.

The CPA promotes knowledge and understanding of constitutional, legislative, economic and cultural systems within a parliamentary democratic framework.

Many other Members of the CPA will be present and the objective of such annual visits is to bring these Members together as one group in order to meet UK Members, to see something of modern Britain and to gain a deeper understanding of other Commonwealth Countries from discussions with fellow delegates.

The CPA visits are popular and for this reason, St Helena could not elect a Member who had been on a previous visit as places are often over-subscribed.

Councillor Isaac returns to St Helena on 6 June.