Latest civil service & public affairs moves – December 12

UK government

• Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Civil Nuclear Police Authority – Susan Johnson OBE appointed as chair, replacing Sir Craig Mackey QPM. Competition Service – Ben Tidswell appointed as member. 

• Department for Education: Office for Students – Dr Michael Spence’s term as non-executive Director to end on 31 May 2025 rather than 31 December 2025; Sir Martyn Oliver appointed as non-executive director from 1 January 2023 until 31 December 2025. 

• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Sarah Tiffin appointed as the UK’s ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from March 2023, succeeding Jon Lambe who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. 
• Government Equalities Office: Equality and Human Rights Commission Board – Alasdair Henderson and Eryl Besse appointed as deputy chairs; Kunle Olulode MBE and Arif Ahmed MBE appointed as commissioners. 
• Department of Health and Social Care: Health Services Safety Investigations Body – Ted Baker appointed as chair, once it is established in 2023, for three years. The expected start date for the role is 1 April 2023. 

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons 

• Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West, Conservative whip restored. 
• Conor McGinn, MP for St Helens North, suspended by the Labour Party pending an investigation. He now sits as an Independent MP. 
• Julian Knight, MP for Solihull, Conservative whip suspended following a complaint made to the Metropolitan Police. He now sits as an Independent MP. 

Select committees:

• Public Accounts – Simon Clarke and Jill Mortimer added; Angela Richardson discharged. 
• Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs – Jo Gideon added; Jackie Doyle-Price discharged. 

House of Lords 

• Baroness Mone (Con, life peer) granted a leave of absence on 6 December. 
• Lord Goldsmith’s (Lab, life peer) leave of absence has ended.  

Political parties

Scottish National Party 

• Stephen Flynn MP elected as leader of the Westminster group; Mhairi Black MP appointed as deputy leader of the Westminster group. 
• Stewart Malcolm McDonald MP stood down as SNP spokesperson for Defence; Pete Wishart MP stood down as SNP spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 

Devolved administrations

Welsh Government 

• Derek Walker appointed as future generations commissioner for Wales, replacing Sophie Howe whose term ends in early 2023. 

Local authorities

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• Bury Council – Lynne Ridsdale appointed as chief executive; she is currently deputy chief executive. 
• Copeland Council – Pat Graham to stand down as chief executive; Steven Brown appointed as Interim Chief Executive until the new Cumberland Council takes over in April 2023. 
• Stirling Council – Carol Beattie to stand down as chief executive in 2023. 
• Tameside Council – Sandra Stewart appointed as chief executive; she has been chief executive since June. 

Industry  

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Interest groups 

• Haymarket Group – Lord Heseltine to retire as chair in March 2023, he remains on the Board of Directors; Rupert Heseltine will succeed him as chair; Sam Gyimah appointed as Adviser to the board; Sue Biggs appointed as non-executive director; David Fraser and Lord Levene of Portsoken to stand down as non-executive directors. 
• Institute of Economic Development – Tom Stannard appointed as chair of the board of directors. He is currently chief executive of Salford City Council. 

Media 

• BBC – Sir Damon Buffini appointed as deputy chair of the BBC Board; Gary Newman, Ian Griffiths and Claire Hungate appointed as non-executive directors of the BBC Commercial Board for three years from 1 April 2023.