Usually the office of administrator is a temporary appointment, for periods during which the governor is incapacitated, outside the territory, or otherwise unable to perform his or her duties.
[2] Richard Wagner is the most recent in Canada designated as the "administrator of the government," having been sworn in to the position on 23 January 2021 after Governor General Payette resigned.
[4] He served as administrator until the Queen appointed Mary Simon as governor general on 26 July 2021, on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
These times may be when the governor-general is outside New Zealand, or is incapacitated or otherwise unable to carry out their duties, or more prominently when the position is vacant .
[7][8] If the chief justice is unable to become administrator of the government for similar reasons as above then the title follows the order of seniority in the judicial system.
[10] However, the Rhodesian Front government of Ian Smith ceased to recognise the authority of her de jure representative, Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs.
[11] Instead, on 17 November, it appointed the former deputy prime minister, Clifford Dupont, to the post of "acting officer administering the government".
[12] Opponents of UDI who considered it an illegal move, such as the independent member of the legislative assembly, Ahrn Palley, refused to recognise Dupont's office, and walked out of the opening of the Parliament of Rhodesia when Dupont came to deliver the Speech from the Throne.
[14] In response, he was told that "Her Majesty is not able to entertain purported advice of this kind, and has therefore been pleased to direct that no action shall be taken upon it".
The country was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, before it returned to colonial status following the Lancaster House Agreement later that year.
In five union territories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Puducherry; the administrator uses the title "lieutenant governor".