Acting appointment leaves Gordon House tense as clerk goes on leave

Employees at Gordon House, the seat of the country’s legislature, are reportedly peeved at a decision by the management of Parliament to install a junior parliamentary counsel to act as clerk to the houses, bypassing the current deputy clerk to the houses.
The Gleaner has seen a memorandum from the Human Resources Department informing the staff that Clerk to the Houses Colleen Lowe has proceeded on vacation from July 10 to July 24, 2026.
The correspondence further noted that in Lowe’s absence, legislative counsel Ashleigh Ximines would perform the relevant functions of the office of the clerk as they relate to the administration of Parliament and proceedings of the House of Representatives.
Continuing, the document stated: “Accordingly, administrative, operational, staffing, financial and other institutional matters which ordinarily require the attention or approval of the clerk, and which fall within the scope of the temporary acting arrangements, should be referred to Ms Ximinies for the duration of the clerk’s absence.”
The missive stated that matters relating to the Senate should be handled by the Deputy Clerk to the Houses Christopher Cowan.
However, reliable sources told The Gleaner that the latest controversial development at Gordon House did not escape the attention of some senior parliamentarians, whose eyebrows were raised on Tuesday when they saw the legal counsel acting in the role of clerk.
One parliamentarian, who asked not to be named, said it was quite unusual for the legal counsel, who is a junior member of staff to the deputy clerk, to be elevated to act in the most senior administrative role.
The member of parliament indicated that the situation that now exists, where the legal counsel is effectively supervising the deputy clerk who is her senior, was perplexing.
One member of staff, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, told The Gleaner that the tradition in Parliament had been that whenever the clerk to the houses went on leave, the deputy clerk automatically took charge of the administrative functions and the proceedings of the Upper and Lower Houses.
“This is disrespectful to the deputy clerk,” the employee said, adding that some of the administrative decisions being taken at Gordon House were giving rise to a dysfunctional work environment.
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