Editing Commonwealth Secretary-General (section)

==List of secretaries-general==
{| class="wikitable"
! width=2%| {{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! width=80px| Portrait
! Name
! Country
! Term start
! Term end
! width=40%| Background
! [[Head of the Commonwealth|Head]]<br>(Tenure)
|-
! style="text-align:center" | 1
| [[File:Arnold Cantwell Smith 1966 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
! style="text-align:center" | [[Arnold Smith]]
| {{flag|Canada}}
| 1 July 1965
| 30 June 1975
|<small>Canadian [[Canada–Egypt relations|ambassador to]] [[Egypt]] (1958–1961)<br />Canadian [[Canada–Soviet Union relations|ambassador to]] the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] (1961–1963)</small>
! rowspan="5" style="border-style: solid solid none solid ;" |[[File:Elizabeth II in Berlin 2015 (cropped).JPG|100px]]<br>[[Elizabeth II]]<br>{{small|(1952–2022)}}
|-
! style="text-align:center" | 2
| [[File:S. Ramphal 1975 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
! style="text-align:center" | Sir [[Shridath Ramphal]]
| {{flag|Guyana}}
| 1 July 1975
| 30 June 1990
|<small>[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Guyana)|Foreign Minister of Guyana]] (1972–1975)</small>
|-
! style="text-align:center" | 3
| [[File:Chief Emeka Anyaoku 2006.jpg|100px]]
! style="text-align:center" | [[Emeka Anyaoku]]
| {{flag|Nigeria}}
| 1 July 1990
| 31 March 2000
|<small>[[Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General|Deputy Secretary-General]] for [[Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General#Political Affairs|Political Affairs]] (1977–1990)</small>
|-
! style="text-align:center" | 4
| [[File:Don McKinnon 2012.jpg|100px]]
! style="text-align:center" | [[Don McKinnon]]
| {{flag|New Zealand}}
| 1 April 2000
| 31 March 2008
|<small>[[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand]] (1990–1996)<br>[[Minister of Trade (New Zealand)|Minister of Trade]] (1990–1996)<br>[[Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] (1990–1999)</small>
|-
! style="text-align:center" | 5
| [[File:Kamalesh Sharma January 2015.jpg|100px]]
! style="text-align:center" | [[Kamalesh Sharma]]
| {{flag|India}}
| 1 April 2008
| 31 March 2016
|<small>[[Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations]] (1997–2002)<br />[[List of High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom|Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]] (2004–2008)</small>
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 6
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Patricia Scotland 2013 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | [[Patricia Scotland|Patricia Scotland<br/>{{Small|'''Baroness Scotland of Asthal'''}}]]
| rowspan="2" | {{flag|Dominica}}<br />{{flag|United Kingdom}}
| rowspan="2" | 1 April 2016
| rowspan="2" | 31 March 2025
| rowspan="2" |<small>[[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney General for England and Wales and Northern Ireland]] (2007–2010)<br /> UK [[Minister of State]] ([[Home Office]]; 2003–2007)<br /> [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State|UK Parliamentary Secretary]] ([[Lord Chancellor's Department]]; 2001–2003)<br /> [[Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs|UK Under-Secretary of State]] at the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] (1999–2001)<br /> [[House of Lords|UK House of Lords]] (1997–present)</small> 
| style="background:#eaecf0 ; border-style: none solid solid solid ;" |
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[File:King Charles III (July 2023).jpg|100px]]<br>[[Charles III]]<br>{{small|(2022–present)}}

|-
! style="text-align:center" | 7
| [[File:Shirley Ayorkor Botchway.jpg|100px]]
! style="text-align:center" | [[Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey]]
| {{flag|Ghana}}
| 1 April 2025
| ''Incumbent''
|<small>[[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ghana)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]] for [[Ghana]] (2017–2025)</small>
|}