Kaspars Gorkšs Approved as Director of Latvia's State Chancellery

Latvia's government, the Cabinet of Ministers, on Tuesday, 20 October, approved Kaspars Gorkšs as director of the State Chancellery. The Chancellery is the institution that supports the government's work and provides the prime minister and the cabinet with data- and research-based information for decision-making. Gorkšs is a former captain of the Latvian national football team, a former president of the Latvian Football Federation and a commentator on national team matches. The prime minister appoints the director for a five-year term after the cabinet's approval.

Gorkšs will take up the post on 16 November, a day after the Latvian national team finishes its current UEFA Nations League cycle. The candidacy was originally due to be put forward at the cabinet meeting on 13 October, but after an initiative by the party New Unity, which wanted to meet the candidate in person, the vote was postponed by a week.

Statements by the prime minister and the candidate

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said he expects Gorkšs to bring a fresh perspective, courage and determination to carry out change. He wants the Chancellery to become a strong, data-driven centre of government that helps make decisions faster and more accurately.

Gorkšs named his priorities as supporting the cabinet in making quality decisions and monitoring their implementation, reducing state budget spending and using funds efficiently, and changing the work culture in public administration by shifting the focus from process to results. He said that in his previous work he had repeatedly seen good initiatives fail because of inefficient procedures.

Career so far

Since 3 April 2023, Gorkšs has been director general of the Latvian Confederation of Employers, and since 9 November 2020 he has also been director of the Jūrmala Football School. Earlier he served on the board of the Latvian Council of Sports Federations (March 2021 to October 2023) and as executive director of the Latvian Team Sports Association (March 2020 to March 2023). He led the Latvian Football Federation from March 2018 to October 2019. From September 2023 to August 2024 he lectured on the University of Latvia's "Sports Law" course. He holds a bachelor's degree in law and a master's degree in political science from the university.

The post of State Chancellery director had been vacant since 19 May 2026, and an open competition was held to fill it.