Four new Deputy Lieutenants have been appointed to support Somerset’s Lord-Lieutenant, who is the King’s representative in the county.
They are: Professor Georgina Andrews, from Keynsham, Professor Trudi Grant, from West Buckland near Wellington, Lord Mark Sedwill GCMG, from Rimpton, near Yeovil, and Melanie Squires MBE, from Taunton.
Today Lord-Lieutenant Mohammed Saddiq said: “Our new Deputy Lieutenants bring a range of skills to the Lieutenancy and it is a pleasure to welcome them to their new roles. “They will do a great deal to encourage, support and celebrate the lives and achievements of people and voluntary organisations in our county – and that is what the Lieutenancy is about. I look forward to working with them in the weeks and months ahead.”
Professor Georgina Andrews
Professor Andrews has been the Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University since January 2025. She has a background in law and led two distinctive and successful Business Schools before being appointed as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost of BSU.
Georgina’s student-centered approach and academic credentials were recognised when she became one of the first Professors of Business Education in the UK. She is passionate about breaking down barriers to education and the role of universities as anchor institutions in their communities and catalysts for inclusive growth.
She is a champion and supporter of local voluntary sector organisations that pay a vital and often unseen role in our communities.
Professor Trudi Grant
Initially trained as an accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist, Professor Grant then moved into the field of public health and is now an accomplished public health leader, with more than 35 years of experience across the NHS and Local Government.
Early in her career she led a national academic symposium that produced the first National Consensus Statement on the relationship between physical activity and mental health, helping to shape understanding of the role of active lifestyles in improving wellbeing.
Trudi was privileged to serve as Director of Public Health for Somerset for 12 years, where she championed a strong focus on tackling inequalities and the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.
A Visiting Professor at the University of the West of England, she is interested in the application of academic evidence in practice.
Lord Mark Sedwill GCMG
Mark Sedwill, Baron Sedwill of Sherborne GCMG, is a Crossbench Peer and a member of Parliament’s Joint Committee on National Security.
Lord Sedwill is Chair of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Atlantic Future Forum (AFF). He is a Non-Executive Director of Rothschild & Co and of Hakluyt & Co.
He is President of the Special Forces Club and the Special Boat Service Association, Vice-President of the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity, and an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Marines.
He chaired the G7 Panel on Global Economic Resilience in 2021. He served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, National Security Adviser, Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, and British Ambassador and NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan. He also served in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Cyprus and Pakistan.
Melanie Squires MBE
Mel began life on the family farm in Cornwall, joining the NFU SW team in 2002, becoming Director in 2006, Director for South region in 2023, NFU Director of Regions, Membership and Business Services in 2024, retiring at the end of 2025.
She graduated in Agriculture from Seale-Hayne in 2000. She undertook the Worshipful Company of Farmers’ Challenge of Rural Leadership in 2005, and Windsor Leadership in 2022.
She Chairs the Great South West’s Food Security board, is a Leadership fellow for Exeter University, an Independent Governor for the University Centre of Somerset’s College Group, and Chair of its Cannington College. She is a Trustee/Director for Devon County Agricultural Society (DCAA).
Mel was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours 2008 for services to Gloucestershire’s rural community and animal welfare during the flooding of July 2007.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Three DLs were recently presented with their badges and certificates by the Lord-Lieutenant. Those pictures are attached. Lord Sedwill could not attend the presentation – so a portrait picture of him is also attached.
