Buckinghamshire welcomes three new Deputy Lieutenants

Three new Deputy Lieutenants for Buckinghamshire have just been appointed. The three individuals are Sir Francis Habgood QPM DL, Mrs Julia Upton MBE DL and Mrs Sarah Clarke JP DL.

The three take on the role as one of the official deputies of the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher. Deputy Lieutenants come from all backgrounds and are hand-selected by the Lord Lieutenant in recognition of their achievements within their local community. Duties of Deputy Lieutenants include greeting and accompanying members of the royal family and state dignitaries during official visits to the county, the presentation of honours and awards on behalf of the Crown, and participation in citizenship ceremonies. Buckinghamshire has 35 Deputy Lieutenants.

Francis Habgood was Chief Constable of the Thames Valley Police from 2015-2019 completing a 32 year career with the police and received his Knighthood in the 2020 New Year honours.

He serves as Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Adults’ Board and the Safeguarding Children’s Partnership for the county. He is temporarily supporting the response to the Covid outbreak as the Head of the Emergency Coordination Centre for Buckinghamshire Council and is Independent Chair of the IT Coordinating Centre for Warwickshire and West Mercia Police.

He is married to Nicolette and they live north of Aylesbury.

Julia Upton was High Sheriff for Buckinghamshire 2019/20. She received her MBE in 2016 for her contribution to the community of Milton Keynes and her role as Chief Executive of the Milton Keynes Community Foundation. This post brought her into contact with a large number of Milton Keynes charities, supporters and philanthropists. Julia is a trustee of MK YMCA, The Stables Theatre and the MK Cenotaph Trust.

Julia is married to Patrick and they live in Milton Keynes.

Sarah Clarke is a long standing Buckinghamshire JP who has chaired both the Magistrates Association in Bucks (2012-16) and more recently, the Buckinghamshire Bench, standing down in March this year. Sarah was the county coordinator for the national Schools’ Mock Trial Competition and has been involved in working with schools across Buckinghamshire to promote the competition since 2010. She is also a trustee of the Magistrates Association nationally.

Sarah is a Director at Develin Consulting Ltd, a management consultancy specialising in data analytics and change management within the commercial and charitable sectors and FiguringOutData.com, Business Improvement Specialists working with data to improve business growth and efficiency.

Sarah is married to Paul and they live in Stony Stratford.

Congratulating the new Deputy Lieutenants on their appointments, Sir Henry said: “I am delighted to welcome Francis, Julia and Sarah to their new roles.  Their variety of backgrounds, skills and experience will be an asset to the Lieutenancy, and benefit Buckinghamshire greatly.  I look forward to working with them and am confident that they will carry out their duties splendidly.”