Editing Commonwealth Secretary-General (section)

==Election==
Since the 1993 CHOGM, it has been decided that the secretary-general is elected to a [[term limit|maximum]] of two four-year terms.<ref name="Role of the Secretary-General" /> The election is held by the assembled heads of government and other ministerial representatives at every other CHOGM.  Nominations are received from the member states' governments, who sponsor the nomination through the election process and are responsible for withdrawing their candidate as they see fit.<ref name="Role of the Secretary-General" />

The election is held in a Restricted Session of the CHOGM, in which only heads of government or ministerial representatives thereof may be present.  The chair of the CHOGM (the head of government of the host nation) is responsible for ascertaining which candidate has the greatest support, through the conduct of negotiations and [[secret ballot|secret]] [[straw poll]]s.<ref name="Role of the Secretary-General" />

Secretaries-general seeking a second term in office are often elected unopposed.<ref name=Landale/> Although this practice was occasionally deemed to be a [[Convention (norm)|convention]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Amit |last=Baruah |title= PM, Blair for representative government in Iraq soon |url=http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/07/stories/2003120705120100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031230224509/http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/07/stories/2003120705120100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 December 2003 |location=India |date=7 December 2003 |work=The Hindu |access-date=27 July 2007 }}</ref> it was broken by a [[Zimbabwe]]-backed bid for Sri Lankan [[Lakshman Kadirgamar]] to displace New Zealand's [[Don McKinnon]] in 2003.  At the vote, however, Kadirgamar was easily defeated by McKinnon, with only 11 members voting for him against 40 for McKinnon.<ref name="Editorial: CHOGM 2003">{{cite journal |date=January 2004 |title=Editorial: CHOGM 2003, Abuja, Nigeria |journal=[[The Round Table Journal|The Round Table]] |volume=93 |issue=373 |pages=3–6 |doi=10.1080/0035853042000188139 }}</ref> In March 2019, the 53 high commissioners, meeting in London, confirmed the unwritten rule allowing secretaries-general to be challenged for a second term.<ref name=Landale/>

At the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011|2011 CHOGM]], India's [[Kamalesh Sharma]] was re-elected to his second term unopposed.  Sharma had won the position at the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2007|2007 CHOGM]], when he defeated [[Malta]]'s [[Michael Frendo]] to replace McKinnon, who had served the maximum two terms.

At the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015|2015 CHOGM]], [[Patricia Scotland]], a former British cabinet minister, was nominated for Commonwealth secretary-general by her native country of [[Dominica]] and defeated [[Antigua and Barbuda|Antiguan]] diplomat Sir [[Ronald Sanders (diplomat)|Ronald Sanders]] and former [[Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General|deputy secretary-general for political affairs]] [[Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba]] of [[Botswana]] to become the 6th Commonwealth secretary-general and the first woman to hold the post. She took office on 1 April 2016.<ref>{{cite news|title=Commonwealth elects first woman secretary general|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20151127/local/commonwealth-elects-first-woman-secretary-general.593722|access-date=27 November 2015|work=Times of Malta|date=27 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Lady Scotland vies to be next Commonwealth secretary general|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/24/lady-scotland-vying-next-commonwealth-secretary-general|access-date=24 November 2015|work=The Guardian|date=24 November 2015}}</ref> Lady Scotland's re-election to a second term was challenged at the [[2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]] but she won a second term, reportedly defeating Jamaican foreign minister [[Kamina Johnson Smith]] by a margin of 27 votes to 24. As the CHOGM had been delayed by two years due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], Scotland agreed to only serve for two additional years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/australian-backed-candidate-fails-in-bid-to-topple-commonwealth-boss-patricia-scotland-20220624-p5awhl.html | title=Australian-backed candidate fails to topple Commonwealth boss Patricia Scotland | date=24 June 2022 }}</ref>

At the [[2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting|2024 CHOGM]], [[Ghana|Ghanaian]] foreign minister [[Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey]] was elected to succeed Baroness Scotland. She will begin her tenure as Secretary-General on 1 April 2025.<ref>{{cite news |title=Commonwealth Announces Ghana Foreign Minister As New Secretary General |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/commonwealth-announces-ghana-foreign-minister-as-new-secretary-general-bd700cd7 |access-date=26 October 2024 |work=Barron's |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=26 October 2024}}</ref>