General Sir Gordon Kenneth Messenger, KCB, DSO & Bar, OBE (born 15 April 1962) is a retired senior Royal Marines officer who served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from May 2016 to May 2019.

After his retirement, Messenger has held ceremonial positions, including Lord High Steward at the coronation of King Charles III in 2023.

[23] On 1 December 2015, Messenger appeared in front of the Defence Select Committee of the House of Commons in relation to the military situation in Syria.

[25] Messenger handed over his role of Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) to Lieutenant General Mark Carleton-Smith on 18 April 2016.

[34] On 6 December 2021 Messenger was appointed Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom, the first time that a Royal Marine has held the role.

[37] Messenger served as Lord High Steward at the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in 2023.

[41] Sajid Javid welcomed the report saying: "The findings in this report are stark, it shows examples of great leadership but also where we need to urgently improve,"[42] but according to the Health Service Journal it was full of well-meaning and often well-judged sentiments – but the recommendations were either peripheral or so vague as to be virtually worthless with the only significant recommendation being the introduction of a single set of "core leadership and management standards".

[43] The Daily Telegraph said the review addressed "none of the issues that affect the great majority of people, or at least not directly", and that it also contained contradictory positions on diversity, inclusion and bullying.

[44] It was also pointed out that – by any reasonable definition – the NHS has "far too few managers" with low spending on administration and planning compared to other healthcare systems.