Lord-Lieutenant appoints three new Deputy Lieutenants for West Sussex

Appointment to the office of Deputy Lieutenant is in recognition of distinguished service to the community, or to the country or county. There are currently 29 Deputy Lieutenants in West Sussex, geographically spread throughout the county.

HHJ Christine Laing QC has been the Resident Judge at Lewes Crown Court for the past four years and as such has overall responsibility for the listing and management of the most serious criminal cases in Sussex.

West Sussex is particularly unusual in that the 10 courtrooms equipped to hear such cases are spread across three different towns in ordinary times and currently four at present.

Christine became a full-time judge in 2014, having previously practised at the Bar for 30 years, and taking Silk (becoming a QC) in 2006. She practised primarily in criminal law in London for many years, before moving to Sussex in 2004, where she both prosecuted and defended numerous murder trials and serious sex cases.

She was appointed as a Circuit Judge in 2014, initially to Woolwich Crown Court for two years, although she maintained her home in Worthing.

HHJ Laing QC has long been involved with her local community in Sussex, including as a volunteer with a large homelessness charity and fundraising for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease charities.

Professor Jane Longmore took up her post as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Chichester in May 2017. She has led the completion of the £35million Engineering and Digital Technology Park which aims to accelerate the provision of higher skills in West Sussex.

Chichester is the only university based in West Sussex and has supported the community by providing teachers for schools across the county for more than 180 years.

With a lifelong commitment to widening educational opportunity, Professor Longmore served as chair of the University Vocational Awards Council, a national consortium of more than 90 higher education institutions working on the development and delivery of degree apprenticeships and technical education.

At regional level, from 2017-21 she was chair of the Sussex Learning Network, a collaboration between HE and FE partners which was followed by the re-establishment of a School of Nursing and Allied Health at the Chichester campus in 2021.

Professor Longmore is currently the chair of the Student Loan Company Stakeholder Forum and a board member of Coast to Capital LEP. She is a Professor of Urban History and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Her contribution to the promotion and knowledge of history led to the award of an Honorary Fellowship of the Historical Association in 2013.

The Rev Rupert Toovey lives in Storrington. Born in Horsham, he has always lived in West Sussex. He is chairman of Toovey’s Auctioneers & Valuers, which he founded with his family and colleagues 27 years ago.Throughout his adult life, he has supported charities and communities across the county both personally and through his business. As an art historian, he has a particular interest in medieval wall paintings and modern British artists working in Sussex.

He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London, and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors whose international art and antiques board he chaired between 2006 and 2008. He remains a keen advocate for building communities through art, music and heritage, writing a weekly column for SussexWorld.

In 2010, Rupert was ordained in the Church of England. He serves as a self-supporting Priest in the Diocese of Chichester while working full-time at Toovey’s. Rupert is a patron of the Mary How Trust. He is married to Teresa and they have two daughters. He is a keen gardener with a love of art, music, history and literature.

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