May 1975: Arnold Smith stands down as Secretary-General after 10 years

After a decade spent deftly giving the Commonwealth Secretariat form and ensuring it functioned in the best interests of all its members regardless of their size or resources, Arnold Smith stepped down as Secretary-General.

Looking back on the role he admitted that while at times it has been a somewhat hair raising job, more than anything else it had been a deeply satisfying one, and there were two clear area to his time in office which contributed to this. One was the work of the CFTC as it produced tangible results as well as enhancing relations between members. The other was engaging governments in the North South dialogue as he clearly believed this was going to be a key issue in global politics for the remainder of the twentieth century.

Sir Shridath Ramphal was elected to the post of Secretary-General at the 1975 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Kingston. Smith described his successor as ‘a first class statesman’ and claimed that he ‘could not have invented a better successor.’ Acknowledging that there were evident differences in style between them, he concluded ‘but that is to the advantage of the Commonwealth, which thrives on variety’ [1]

The a guide to the records relating to Arnold Smiths time in office can be found on found in the Commonwealth Secretariats Library and Archives.