Lindsay de Sausmarez

Lindsay de Sausmarez (English pronunciation: /dəˈsʌməreɪ/ də SUM-ə-ray^[1]) (born 1977 or 1978) is a Guernsey politician serving as the President of the Policy and Resources Committee (the head of government) since 1 July 2025.

Her maiden name was H. Lindsay Henderson.^[2]

De Sausmarez is the daughter of Tim Henderson,^[2] a retired executive of HSBC Bank.^[3] Born in 1977 or 1978, by her own account she was born in Asia.^[4][5] Her father is from Guernsey while her mother is from Scotland, and as she grew up she spent time in many countries, while living in Guernsey during the summer.^[4] She lived for five years in Sri Lanka, attending an international school there,^[4] where her father was chief executive of HSBC Sri Lanka,^[3] then returned to Europe to attend Ardvreck School at Crieff. Her parents moved to Guernsey full-time when she was 16, when her father became chief executive of the Leopold Joseph (Channel Islands) Bank,^[6] and at this time she was still studying in Scotland.^[4] She attended Durham University from 1996 to 1999, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English literature.^[4][7] She later moved to Australia, where in 2002 she was writing film reviews in Sydney, noting that at Durham she had developed a particular interest in French and Italian films.^[8] She attended the University of New South Wales from 2003 to 2004, graduating with a master's degree in theatre.^[4]

De Sausmarez lived in Australia for five years and worked for several film companies, as well as on a farm.^[4] However, she said they were low-paying jobs and that "I would often hold down two or three jobs at a time to make ends meet".^[4] She struggled to pay high rent and said that "At times I was living on nothing but apples and reduced-for-quick-sale bread"; at one point she became homeless when her landlord terminated her tenancy, and she then lived with friends.^[4] She later moved back to Guernsey and became a freelance writer and a producer for Specsavers.^[4] In August 2007 her short film Dolly, about a shop window mannequin, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.^[9]

In the 2016 general election, de Sausmarez ran as an independent candidate and won a seat to the States of Guernsey, receiving 1,808 votes (53.8%).^[10] She ran for re-election in 2020, retaining her seat with 8,645 votes (35.1%).^[10] In the States of Guernsey, she served as President of the Committee for the Environment & Infrastructure and Vice President of the Committee for Employment & Social Security.^[11] She was re-elected again in the 2025 general election with 10,721 votes (54%), more than 1,300 votes over the second-placed candidate.^[10]

On 1 July 2025, she was elected by the States to be President of the Policy and Resources Committee of Guernsey – a position also known as the chief minister, and effectively Guernsey's head of government – becoming the first woman to hold the position.^[12][13] She had decided to stand for election less than a week beforehand.^[5]

Lindsay Henderson met Rollo de Sausmarez through both playing rugby for Guernsey.^[14] In 2007, they were engaged and living in Guernsey.^[15] They later married^[2] and now have four children together.^[4] They live in Saint Martin.^[5]