Vice Chancellor of Sanctaria

Vice Chancellor of the Divine Federation of Sanctaria
Sanctarian Coat of Arms
Incumbent Josephine Chari-Jones since 14 December 2022
Style	The Right Honourable (formal) Vice Chancellor (spoken) His/Her Excellency (in international correspondence)
Member of	House of Deputies Cabinet
Reports to	Chancellor of Sanctaria
Seat	Government Manor, Sanctus, Sanctaria
Nominator	Chancellor
Appointer	President of Sanctaria on the advice of the Chancellor, and the consent of the Senate
Term length	At the Chancellor's Pleasure No fixed term
Formation	19 November 1974
First holder	Xander Dylans as Deputy Prime Minister
Salary	S£300,000

The Vice Chancellor of the Divine Federation, also known as the Vice Chancellor of Sanctaria, is the deputy head of government of Sanctaria and the second-most senior officer in the Government of Sanctaria. The Vice Chancellor is appointed by the President of Sanctaria on the advice of the Chancellor. The current office holder is Josephine Chari-Jones, who was appointed on 14 December 2022.

Prior to federalisation on 01 January 2019, the office was called the Deputy Prime Minister of Sanctaria, or more formally, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Divine Republic.

Office

The office was created in 1974 under the Constitution of Sanctaria as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Divine Republic. It was first held by Xander Dylans of the Christian Union Party.

The Chancellor nominates a member of the House of Deputies, who will also be a member of the government, to the office. The President of Sanctaria then appoints the nominee to the office. Unlike nominees to be Secretaries of State, the Senate does not need to confirm the Chancellor's nominee for Vice Chancellor. The Vice Chancellor acts in place of the Chancellor during his or her temporary absence. In the event of a Chancellor's death or permanent incapacitation, the Vice Chancellor acts in their stead until another Chancellor is appointed. The Vice Chancellor chairs meetings of the government in the absence of the Chancellor, and may take questions on their behalf in either or both Houses of the federal Parliament.

Aside from these constitutional duties, the title is largely honorific. While the Chancellery is a government department under the Government Secretaries Acts 1974 to 2018, there is no such department for the Vice Chancellor; every Deputy Prime Minister or Vice Chancellor has, in parallel, held a secretarial portfolio as head of a government department.

In one-party governments, the Vice Chancellor is, by convention, the deputy leader of the party, however the Chancellor is free to choose whomever they wish to be their deputy. In coalition governments, the Vice Chancellor position is usually given to the leader of the second-largest government party.

List of office holders

Deputy Prime Ministers of the Divine Republic
Colour key	Christian Union Party (CUP)      Sanctarian Conservative Party (SCP)      Democratic Left Party (DLP)      Green Party (GP)
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Government	Prime Minister
1		Xander Dylans (1915–1994)	19 November 1974	03 November 1981	1st		Rev. Eric Childerson
2		Jacob Williams (1925–2011)	06 December 1981	17 October 1986	2nd		Richard Hammersley
3		Andrew Burham (b. 1935)	29 November 1986	06 November 1993	3rd		Eli Taylor
4		Stuart Payne (b. 1934)	12 December 1993	08 November 2000	4th		Glen Cox
5		Audrey Bennet (b. 1950)	01 December 2000	04 November 2007	5th		Charles Dawson
6		Robert Smyth (b. 1950)	13 December 2007	28 June 2012	6th		Joshua Turner
7		Andrew Silk (b. 1974)	28 June 2012	05 February 2013
8		Jason Reid (b. 1962)	01 March 2013	12 January 2018	7th		Mark Kindle
9		Niamh Winters (b. 1971)	01 February 2018	31 December 2018	8th		Charlene Hendry
Vice Chancellors of the Divine Federation
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Government	Chancellor
—		Niamh Winters (b. 1971)	01 January 2019	23 November 2022	8th		Charlene Hendry
10		Josephine Chari-Jones (b. 1973)	14 December 2022	Incumbent	9th		Ethan Ringrose