Off the Record: Find out who is in line for plum roles as SA Governor and Agent-General in the UK

There are two plum roles about to be vacated in the form of South Australia’s Governor and our Agent-General in the UK. Off the Record has the latest gossip on replacements for both.

‘Ello new Governor

South Australia is likely to snare Australia’s top diplomat and a former Ambassador to China to be its next governor when Hieu Van Le’s term ends in August.

Frances Adamson, the widely respected head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra, is understood to have been approached about the role.

Adamson is South Australian, she studied at the University of Adelaide and her mother Jennifer Cashmore was the long-time Liberal member for Coles, now Morialta, and a minister in the Tonkin government.

Frances Adamson, the widely respected secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is the frontrunner to SA’s next Governor. Picture: Sean Davey.

She’s a heavy hitter in Canberra as one of the country’s most senior public servants and was formerly Australia’s Ambassador to China and deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in London.

Her connections and understanding of international affairs will be a win for SA at a time when the state is pushing to grow export markets.

Adamson also has ties across both sides of politics in Canberra, having served as the chief of staff for Gillard-era Defence and Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith and as an International Adviser to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The role of Governor, which comes with living in these shiny digs on North Terrace, is highly coveted and respected. Picture: Sam Wundke

Her five-year term at DFAT ends in July.

The State Government has been coy on the appointment but will announce the next Governor in coming months.

The Governor will be appointed by The Queen on the advice of Premier Steven Marshall.

A State Government spokeswoman said: “His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC is doing an excellent job serving in this role and has done so since his appointment in 2014.”

“His Excellency will continue in his role as Governor until August this year.

“The Government looks forward to the appointment of a new Governor later this year and will be making an announcement regarding this in due course.”

South Australian Governor Hieu Van Le is in the role until August. Picture: (AAP/Kelly Barnes

Who’s going to spruik SA in the UK?

Another plum role that’s about to become vacant, and which the State Government is keeping equally coy over, is that of South Australia’s Agent-General in the UK.

Marketing whiz Bill Muirhead has held the position since former premier Mike Rann appointed him in 2007. Jay Weatherill extended Muirhead’s tenure in 2015.

In November, Muirhead announced he was quitting as executive director of international advertising agency M&C Saatchi as of March 31 and that he would return to Australia. His tenure as Agent-General also finishes at the end of March.

Muirhead, who is one of the most-connected Australians in the UK, will leave a considerable void for spruiking the virtues of SA in one of our most important overseas markets.

SA Agent-General Bill Muirhead, pictured here in 2013 with the SA Brand logo, has had a strong track record in the role since 2007.

Attention now turns to who will take the reins at a time when new post-Brexit trade deals will be negotiated between the UK and Australia, and as the SA Government continues its bid to lure our brightest expats back home.

One name mentioned in dispatches, and who would carry a similar level of clout to Muirhead, is political strategist Sir Lynton Crosby.

Crosby, globally renowned as a master of the dark arts of political strategy, has played a key role in the election of conservative governments in various jurisdictions.

Sir Lynton Crosby is an SA expat in the UK and political strategy whiz who would carry top-level clout like Muirhead in the role. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images

Interestingly, Crosby hails from Kadina, the same Yorke Peninsula town that SA Liberal heavyweight and now Federal Liberal Party president John Olsen served as mayor of from 1974-77. Could that link help seal the deal?

Rumours have also swirled over another name – former tourism minister David Ridgway.

Ridgway, whose daughter Tara is PR co-ordinator for Burberry in London and is married to England’s one-day cricket captain Eoin Morgan, has had a very back-seat role in Parliament since his resignation from Cabinet last year over a scandal involving the use of his taxpayer-funded chauffeur while in Opposition.

Former tourism and trade minister David Ridgway, back right, with England World Cup cricket captain Eoin Morgan, who is married to Ridgway's daughter Tara, and their families. Picture: Twitter

Not only does his family now have a strong link to the UK, but should Premier Steven Marshall hand Ridgway the gig, it would also free up a spot in the Upper House to parachute someone into. The intrigue grows.

Mr Marshall, who makes the appointment, is keeping tight-lipped for now. A Government spokesperson simply saying: “Bill Muirhead’s current term expires on 31 March this year having served as Agent-General since 2007.

“No replacement has been chosen and the Government looks forward to his continuing contribution in challenging times.”