Latest civil service & public affairs moves – May 24 to July 12

UK government

• Government ministerial appointments
• Machinery of government change: Government Digital Service, Central Digital and Data Office and Incubator for AI to move from the Cabinet Office to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 
• Prime Minister's Office – Dissolution honours for current MPs: Oliver Dowden – KCB; Julian Smith – KCB. The Right Reverend Mike Harrison appointed as bishop of Exeter, succeeding The Right Reverend Robert Atwell following his retirement. The Venerable Alastair Cutting appointed as bishop of Woolwich, succeeding The Right Reverend Karowei Dorgu following his death. The Right Reverend Janet McFarlane appointed as dean of Lichfield, succeeding The Very Reverend Adrian Dorber following his retirement. The Reverend Canon Dr Stephen Edwards appointed as dean of Worcester, succeeding The Very Reverend Peter Atkinson following his retirement. Professor Luke Bretherton appointed as canon and regius professor of moral and pastoral theology at Christ Church Oxford, succeeding The Reverend Canon Professor Nigel Biggar. The Reverend Canon Professor Andrew Davison appointed as Canon and Regius Professor of Divinity at Christ Church, Oxford, succeeding The Reverend Canon Professor Graham Ward. Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, Mr Justice Cobb, Mr Justice Holgate and Mr Justice Zacaroli appointed as lord justices of appeal.
• Department for Business and Trade: Groceries Code Adjudicator – Mark White re-appointed as groceries code adjudicator for three years.
• Cabinet Office: Birthday honours of current Peers and MPs: Lord Etherton – GBE; Baroness Wolf of Dulwich – DBE; Rebecca Harris MP – DBE; Richard Fuller – CBE. 
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Royal Parks – Dame Mary Archer appointed as chair for four years from 24 July until 23 July 2028. Theatres Trust – Vicky Browning, Anna Collins, Liam Evans-Ford, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Saratha Rajeswaran and Michele Taylor appointed as trustees for three years.
• Department for Education: DfE Board – Sir Kevin Collins appointed as non-executive board member for three years from 5 July. Construction Industry Training Board – Sophie Seddon re-appointed as board member for four years from 22 June until 21 June 2028. Social Work England – Andrew McCulloch’s term as interim chair of the board extended for six months from 1 June.
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero –  Former Climate Change Committee chief executive Chris Stark appointed to lead new clean power "mission control" centre. Sellafield Ltd – Chris Train appointed as chair from 1 June. UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd – Kaveh Pourteymour, Julie Nerney and Dr Luc Bardin appointed as non-executive directors to the board.
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Consumer Council for Water – Robert Wilson appointed as chair for three years from 6 June. Joint Nature Conservation Committee – Cath Denholm’s term as interim chair extended until 31 December. Marine Management Organisation – Mark Ripley appointed to the board for four years from 1 July until 30 June 2028; Professor Judith Petts appointed to the board for four years from 1 October until 30 September 2028. Natural England – Cynthia Alers, Alastair Leake, James Scott and Mark Tufnell appointed to the board for three years from 31 May until 30 May 2027.
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Nick Abbott has been appointed as His Majesty’s ambassador to the Republic of Albania from September, succeeding Alastair King-Smith who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Colin Wells has been appointed as British high commissioner to the Kingdom of Eswatini from August, succeeding Simon Boyden who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Simon Day appointed as British high commissioner to the Gabonese Republic from June, succeeding Jo McPhail who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Gareth Ward appointed as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Georgia from August, succeeding Mark Clayton. Josephine Gauld appointed as British high commissioner to the Republic of Sierra Leone from September, succeeding Lisa Chesney who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment.
• Department of Health and Social Care – former New Labour health minister Lord Ara Darzi appointed to produce a "warts and all" report on the NHS ahead of the government's 10-year plan to bolster the health service. NHS England – Dr Adrian James appointed as medical director for mental health and neurodiversity. 
• Home Office – David Bolt appointed as interim independent chief inspector of borders and immigration from 3 June. Security Industry Authority – Heather Baily re-appointed as for two years from 7 June until 6 June 2026.
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities reverted back to a former name
• Ministry of Justice: Legal Services Board – Craig Westwood appointed as chief executive from August.
• Privy Council Office – Liz Kendall, Shabana Mahmood, Lisa Nandy and Lucy Powell appointed as privy counsellors on 6 July. Anneliese Dodds, Louise Haigh, Richard Hermer [peerage pending], Darren Jones, Peter Kyle, Ian Murray, Bridget Phillipson, Steve Reed, Jonathan Reynolds, Jo Stevens, Wes Streeting and John Swinney appointed as privy counsellors on 11 July.
• Northern Ireland Office: Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland – Vilma Patterson re-appointed as board member for five years until 30 June 2029
• Department for Transport – David Mullan appointed as traffic commissioner for Great Britain for the north western traffic area from 19 August. Maritime and Coastguard Agency – Lord Stevens of Birmingham appointed as non-executive chair from 24 May.
• Non-ministerial departments: Competition and Markets Authority – Cat Batchelor, Tania Van den Brande and Euan MacMillan appointed as senior directors. Ofqual – Sir Ian Bauckham announced as the preferred candidate for the chief regulator. Following his pre-appointment hearing, the Education Select Committee will publish their recommendations.

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons

• Lindsay Hoyle re-elected as the speaker on 9 July.
• Edward Leigh becomes the father of the House.
• Diane Abbott becomes the mother of House.

Summary following the 4 July general election:

• 350 new MPs were elected
• 218 former MPs were defeated
• 132 MPs stood down
• 15 retread MPs returned

Party breakdown:

• Labour (including Labour/Co-operative) 411
• Conservative 121
• Liberal Democrats 72
• Scottish National Party 9
• Sinn Féin 7
• Independent 6
• Democratic Unionist Party 5
• Reform UK 6
• Green 4
• Plaid Cymru 4
• Social Democratic and Labour Party 2
• Alliance 1
• The Speaker 1
• Traditional Unionist Voice 1
• Ulster Unionist Party 1

Gender breakdown:

• Male 387
• Female 263

House of Lords

• Lord Leitch (Lab, life peer) granted a leave of absence on 24 May.
• Lord Ashton of Hyde was a Conservative peer, now non-affiliated.
• Alexandra Freeman raised to the peerage as Baroness Freeman of Steventon, of Abingdon in the County of Oxfordshire on 5 June.
• Lionel Tarassenko raised to the peerage as Lord Tarassenko, of Headington in the City of Oxford on 10 June.
• Lord Saville of Newdigate (crossbench (CB), life peer) retired on 20 June.
• Baroness Fritchie (CB, life peer) retired on 1 July.
• Lord Rana (Con, life peer) retired on 2 July.
• Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare (non-affiliated, life peer) retired on 4 July.
• Lord MacKenzie of Culkein (Lab, life peer) retired on 8 July.
• Baroness King of Bow (Lab, life peer) retired on 9 July.
• The following peers ceased to be a member of the Lords on 9 July by virtue of not attending a sitting of the House during a session lasting six months or longer:
• Lord Black of Crossharbour (non-affiliated, life peer)
• Baroness Corston (Lab, life peer)
• Lord Davies of Oldham (Lab, life peer)
• Lord Kalms (non-affiliated, life peer)
• Lord Prescott (Lab, life peer)
• Lord Willoughby de Broke (non-affiliated, hereditary peer) – a by-election to elect a new hereditary peer will take place in due course.

Peerages pending:

• Minette Batters (CB) (Dissolution peerage)
• Margaret Beckett (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• Liam Booth-Smith (Con) (Dissolution peerage)
• Graham Brady (Con) (Dissolution peerage)
• Hilary Cass (CB) (Dissolution peerage)
• John Cryer (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• Tom Elliott MLA (UUP) (Dissolution peerage)
• Chris Grayling (Con) (Dissolution peerage)
• David Hanson (Lab) (ministerial appointment)
• Harriet Harman (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• Richard Hermer (Lab) (ministerial appointment)
• Margaret Hodge (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• Kevan Jones (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• Barbara Keeley (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• Eleanor Laing (Con) (Dissolution peerage)
• Craig Mackinlay (Con) (Dissolution peerage)
• Theresa May (Con) (Dissolution peerage)
• Caroline Pidgeon (Lib Dem) (Dissolution peerage)
• Alok Sharma (Con) (Dissolution peerage)
• Jacqui Smith (Lab) (ministerial appointment)
• John Spellar (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• James Timpson (Lab) (ministerial appointment)
• Rosie Winterton (Lab) (Dissolution peerage)
• Patrick Vallance (Lab) (ministerial appointment)

Parties

Conservatives

Shadow cabinet appointments:

• Rishi Sunak appointed as leader of the opposition
• Oliver Dowden appointed as deputy leader of the opposition and shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Jeremy Hunt appointed as shadow chancellor of the exchequer
• Andrew Mitchell appointed as shadow foreign secretary
• James Cleverly appointed as shadow home secretary
• James Cartlidge appointed as shadow secretary of state for defence
• Edward Argar appointed as shadow secretary of state for justice
• Andrew Griffith appointed as shadow secretary of state for science, innovation and technology
• Victoria Atkins appointed as shadow secretary of state for health and social care
• Kemi Badenoch appointed as shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing, and communities
• Steve Barclay appointed as shadow secretary of state for the environment
• Chris Philp appointed as shadow leader of the House of Commons
• Lord True appointed as shadow leader of the House of Lords
• Kevin Hollinrake appointed as shadow secretary of state for business and trade
• Claire Coutinho appointed as shadow secretary of state for energy security and net zero
• Mel Stride appointed as shadow secretary of state for work and pensions
• Damian Hinds appointed as shadow secretary of state for education
• Helen Whately appointed as shadow secretary of state for transport
• Julia Lopez appointed as shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport
• Jeremy Wright appointed as shadow attorney general
• Alex Burghart appointed as shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland
• John Lamont appointed as shadow secretary of state for Scotland
• Lord Davies of Gower appointed as shadow secretary of state for Wales
• Stuart Andrew appointed as opposition chief whip
• Laura Trott appointed as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury
• John Glen appointed as shadow paymaster general
• Tom Tugendhat appointed as shadow security minister
• Andrew Bowie appointed as shadow veterans minister
• Mims Davies appointed as shadow women and equalities
• Richard Fuller appointed as interim party chairman
• Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton resigned
• Richard Holden resigned as party chairman
• 1922 Committee – Bob Blackman elected as chairman on 9 July.

Scottish National Party

• Stephen Flynn re-appointed as Westminster group leader.
• Pete Wishart appointed as Westminster group deputy leader.
• Kirsty Blackman appointed as chief whip.
• Democratic Unionist Party
• Gavin Robinson confirmed as permanent leader on 29 May.

Reform UK

• Nigel Farage appointed as party leader and leader in the Commons.
• Richard Tice appointed as deputy party leader and deputy leader in the Commons.
• Lee Anderson appointed as chief whip.

Welsh Conservatives

• Laura Anne Jones removed as shadow minister for culture, tourism, sport and social justice.

Devolved Administrations

Scottish Parliament

Michael Matheson suspended for 27 sitting days and salary withdrawn for 54 days from 31 May.

• Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee – George Adam and Patrick Harvie added; Mark Ruskell discharged.
• Criminal Justice Committee – Ben Macpherson added.
• Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee – Jeremy Balfour added; Oliver Mundell discharged.
• Economy and Fair Work Committee – Michelle Thomson, Lorna Slater and Willie Coffey added; Colin Beattie, Maggie Chapman and Evelyn Tweed discharged.
• Education, Children and Young People Committee – George Adam, Evelyn Tweed and John Mason added; Ruth Maguire, Michelle Thomson and Ben Macpherson discharged.
• Health, Social Care and Sport Committee – Joe FitzPatrick added.
• Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee – Emma Roddick added; Stephanie Callaghan discharged.
• Public Audit Committee – Fulton MacGregor added; Willie Coffey discharged.
• Rural Affairs and Islands Committee – Colin Beattie added; Alasdair Allen discharged.
• Social Justice and Social Security Committee – Kevin Stewart added; John Mason discharged.
• Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee – Ruth Maguire and Joe Fitzpatrick added; Jackie Dunbar discharged.

Scottish Government

• Gillian Martin to be appointed as acting cabinet secretary for net zero and energy while Màiri McAllan is on maternity leave.
• Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee – Angela Leitch’s term as convener extended until 31 May; Peter Argyle, Rosie Docherty, David Heaney, Martin McElroy and Laura Simpson’s term as members extended until 31 May.

Welsh Parliament

• Children, Young People and Education Committee – Cefin Campbell added; Heledd Fychan discharged.
• Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee – Heledd Fychan added; Llyr Gruffydd discharged.
• Local Government and Housing Committee – Siân Gwenllian added; Luke Fletcher discharged.
• Petitions Committee – Luke Fletcher added; Peredur Owen Griffiths discharged.
• Wales Covid-19 Inquiry Special Purpose Committee – Mabon ap Gwynfor added; Adam Price discharged.

Welsh Government

• Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales – Anna Heslop and Lynda Warren appointed as deputy interim assessors.

Northern Ireland Assembly

• Economy Committee – Doug Beattie added; Mike Nesbitt discharged.
• Justice Committee – Sinéad Ennis resigned as deputy chair; Deirdre Hargey appointed as chair from 28 May.
• Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee – Stephen Dunne added; Jonathan Buckley discharged.
• Jim Allister (TUV) resigned as MLA for North Antrim on 5 July.
• Alex Easton (Ind) resigned as MLA for North Down on 5 July.
• Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance) resigned as MLA for Lagan Valley on 5 July.
• Robin Swann (UUP) resigned as MLA for North Antrim on 5 July.
• Michelle Guy (Alliance) co-opted as MLA for Lagan Valley on 10 July.
• Peter Martin (DUP) co-opted as MLA for North Down on 10 July.
• Colin Crawford (UUP) co-opted as MLA for North Antrim on 10 July.

Northern Ireland Executive

• Mike Nesbitt MLA appointed as minister of health on 29 May.
• Conor Murphy MLA re-appointed as minister for economy on 29 May.
• Armagh Observatory and Planetarium – Ruth Hunter, Gráinne McVeigh and Ronan O’Hara appointed as members of the management committee from 1 June until 31 May 2029.
• Arts Council of Northern Ireland – Lynne Best and Sean Kelly re-appointed as board members to the board from 1 July until 30 June 2028.
• Charity Commission for Northern Ireland – Aoife Hamilton appointed as deputy chief commissioner to the board from 1 June until 31 May 2029.
• Consumer Council for Northern Ireland – Clare Bailey appointed as chair for four years from 17 June; Gerard McCurdy appointed as deputy chair for four years from 17 June; James Doorley, Mark Dougan, Mick McAteer, Grainne McVeigh, Heather Moore, Andrew Murray, Niamh O Maolain and Orla Sheils appointed as members for four years from 17 June.
• Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners Board – John Boyle and Julie Middleton appointed as non-executive councillors for four years from 1 July.
• Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland – Catherine Irwin appointed as chair for four years from 17 June.
• National Museums Northern Ireland – Shane Quinn appointed as trustee to the board from 1 July until 30 June 2028; Charlotte Jess and Robert Whan re-appointed as trustees from 1 July until 30 June 2028.
• Northern Ireland Building Regulations Advisory Committee – Andrew Corbett, Andrew Frew, Cormac Freehill and Martin McCook re-appointed for three years until 28 February 2027.
• Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme Pension Board – Michael Burton appointed as independent chair.
• South Eastern Regional College – Pauline Leeson, Nuala Reid and Nicola Wilson appointed as members to the governing body for four years from 26 June.
• Sport NI – Gavin Boyd appointed as vice-chair to the board from 1 June until 31 May 2028; Gregory Irwin, Gary Lyons, Claire Moore and Stephen Reid appointed as board members from 1 June until 31 May 2028; Eoin McGarrity appointed as board member from 1 July until 30 June 2028.
• Warrenpoint Harbour Authority – Laura Devlin appointed as non-executive councillor member for four years from 1 June; Jarlath Tinnelly appointed as non-executive councillor member for four years from 22 August.

Local Authorities

• Basildon Borough Council – Scott Logan retired as chief executive on 17 June.
• Bexley Council – Paul Thoroughgood appointed as Permanent chief executive from 17 July.
• Birmingham City Council – Joanne Rooney appointed as chief executive.
• Bristol City Council – Paul Martin appointed as chief executive from early June.
• Gateshead Council – Dale Owens appointed as chief executive on 1 June.
• Hertfordshire Council – Annie Ridgewell appointed as chief executive on 25 June.
• Kirklees Council – Council leader Cathy Scott resigned as member of the Labour Party, will remain as Independent.
• Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council – Mike Harden to stand down as chief executive in January 2025.
• Lancashire County Council – Annie Ridgewell stood down as chief executive on 25 June.
• Manchester City Council – Joanne Rooney to stand down as chief executive.
• North Hertfordshire District Council – Daniel Allen appointed as council leader.
• North Kesteven District Council – Ian Fytche to stand down as chief executive later this year.
• Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council – Tom Shardlow appointed as chief executive.
• Stirling Council – Caroline Sinclair appointed as chief executive.
• Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council – Micheal Cullen appointed as chief executive in June.
• Surry County Council – Micheal Coughlin appointed as interim chief executive from 1 June until late August.
• Wirral Council – Paul Stuart re-elected as council leader.
• Lambeth London Borough Council – Bayo Dosunmu resigns as chief executive from 15 July.
• Lambeth London Borough Council – Fiona Connolly appointed as acting chief executive from 15 July.

Combined Authorities

• York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority – James Farrar appointed as chief executive.

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