UK government
- Prime Minister's Office – Jade Leung appointed as the prime minister’s AI adviser, reporting directly to the prime minister and the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology. Tom Kibasi appointed as strategy adviser to the prime minister. Prof Michele Dougherty appointed as astronomer royal, succeeding Lord Rees of Ludlow following his retirement. Peter Oliver appointed as His Majesty’s lord-lieutenant of the county of Merseyside on 15 December, following the retirement of Mark Blundell. The Right Reverend Hugh Nelson appointed as bishop of Worcester, succeeding The Right Reverend John Geoffrey Inge following his retirement. The Venerable Kelly Betteridge appointed as suffragan bishop of Basingstoke, succeeding The Right Reverend David Williams. Churches Conservation Trust – Michael Bithell JP, Vivienne King, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, Bishop Andrew Rumsey and Dr Ingrid Samuel appointed as trustees; Reverend Canon Timothy Goode re-appointed as trustee until October 2028.
- Department for Business and Trade – Ceri Morgan appointed as His Majesty’s trade commissioner for Europe from 1 September, succeeding Chris Barton. Office for Product Safety and Standards – Jen Dinmore, Frank Given, Amanda Long, Professor John Loughhead and John McDermid appointed as members of the advisory board.
- Cabinet Office – Greg Jackson appointed as non-executive member of the Cabinet Office Board for three years. LINK Equality and Human Rights Commission – Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson appointed as chair from 1 December, succeeding Baroness Falkner of Margravine. Government Communications Service – David Dinsmore appointed as director of communications (at permanent secretary level) from November. Honours Diversity and Outreach Committee – Moni Mannings appointed as chair for five years until July 2030. House of Lords Appointments Commission – Prof Adeeba Malik appointed as independent member for five years from 1 September. Office for National Statistics – Darren Tierney appointed as permanent secretary from 11 August. Senior Salaries Review Body – Pippa Greenslade’s term as generalist member extended until 1 June 2026.
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Historic Royal Palaces – Thomas Harris, Dan Jones and Dame Caroline Michel appointed as trustees for three years. National Lottery Community Fund – Dr Simone Lowthe-Thomas re-appointed as board member and chair of the Wales Committee for four years until 30 June 2029. Sports Grounds Safety Authority – Prof Aoife Hunt appointed as board member for three years until 11 May 2028.
- Department for Education – Ellen Thinnesen appointed as further education commissioner for three years from January 2026. Office for Students – Jane McCall, Simon Wilde and Andrew Wilson appointed as non-executive directors for four years from 1 September; Neil Swift appointed as non-executive director for four years from 2 November.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Civil Nuclear Constabulary – Tim Needham to retire as chief superintendent from September. Civil Nuclear Police Authority – John Campbell and Nick Payne appointed as board members. Low Carbon Contracts Company and Electricity Settlement Company – Tony Bickerstaff appointed as chair. UK Atomic Energy Authority – Claire Flint appointed as non-executive director for three years.
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Paul Kissack appointed as permanent secretary from October. Animal Health and Welfare Board for England – Dr Charlotte Commins appointed as non-executive director from 1 August until 31 April 2028; Jonathan Statham re-appointed as chair for three years until 31 April 2028; Gwyn Jones, Julia Wrathall, James Russell and Peter Laurie re-appointed as non-executive directors for three years until 31 April 2028. Anglian (Northern) Regional Flood and Coastal Committee – Paul Learoyd appointed as chair. Marine Management Organisation – Les Philpott appointed as chair for three years from 7 August. Wessex Regional Flood and Coastal Committee – Ian Collins appointed as chair. Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee – Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong appointed as chair.
- Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Andrew Wood appointed as UK permanent representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris from September, succeeding Natacha Alexander
- Department of Health and Social Care – Baroness Amos appointed to lead the independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care and produce an initial set of national recommendations by December. Independent Reconfiguration Panel – Gordan Carlson, Kate Denham, Rob Ghosh and Christine Morgan appointed as members for four years from 1 October. UK Health Security Agency – Prof Susan Hopkins appointed as chief executive; Dr Stuart Dollow appointed as non-executive member for three years from 1 September; Cindy Rampersaud re-appointed as non-executive member and chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for three years from 3 April 2026.
- Home Office: Police Advisory Board for England and Wales – Gaon Hart appointed as chair for three years from the summer. Security Industry Authority– Heather Baily to stand down as chair from 28 February 2026.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Rushanara Ali resigned as parliamentary under-secretary of state for homelessness and democracy on 8 August. Homes England – Amy Rees appointed as chief executive from 8 September. Regulator of Social Housing – Waqar Ahmed, Sarah Cameron and Martin Tiplady appointed as board members of Ash-Shahada Housing Association Limited (Ash-Shahada).
- Ministry of Justice: Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service – Catharine Seddon and Peter Fish re-appointed as board members for four years from 19 April 2026 until 18 April 2030. Insolvency Rules Committee – Robert Paterson re-appointed as solicitor member for four years from 26 June 2026; Alexander Wood re-appointed as solicitor member for four years from 30 September 2026. Parole Board – His Honour Jeremy Roberts KC re-appointed as judicial member for two years from 1 August until 31 July 2027; His Honour Peter Rook KC re-appointed as judicial member for four years from 1 February 2026 until 31 January 2030. Prison Service Pay Review Body – Tijs Broeke appointed as chair for three years from 1 August until 31 July 2028. Sentencing Council – Lord Justice Andrew Edis appointed vice-chairman from 1 August.
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – Jade Leung appointed as the prime minister’s AI adviser, reporting directly to the prime minister and the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology
- HM Treasury – Sir Charlie Mayfield, Jenny Scott and Edward Twiddy appointed as non-executive Board members of HMT for three years from 1 September. Crown Estate – Peter Hofbauer appointed to the board for four years from 1 September. UK Government Investments Board – Mahnaz Safa and Andrew Ballheimer re-appointed as non-executive directors for three years from September. Department for Work and Pensions: Independent Disability Advisory Panel – Zara Todd appointed as chair.
- Non-ministerial departments: Food Standards Agency – Clare Evans, Susan Paterson and Steve Ruddy appointed as members for four years from 1 August; Frank Atherton and Louise Hoste appointed as members for three years from 1 August; Alison Austin appointed as member for three years from 18 November.
Houses of Parliament
House of Commons
- Following the marriage of MPs Louise Jones and Jeevun Sandher in August, Jones will now be known as Louise Sandher-Jones
- Afzal Khan resigned as the UK's trade envoy to Turkey
- George Freeman re-instated as the UK's trade envoy to Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Brunei.
House of Lords
- Lord Desai (Crossbench, life peer) died on 29 July
- Lord Sawyer (Labour, life peer) died on 4 August
- Lord Paul (Non-affiliated, life peer) died on 21 August.
Committees
- Audit and Risk Assurance – Lord Lemos discharged.
Parties
Reform UK
- Dan Barker, Darren Grimes, Andrea Jenkyns, Paul Nuttall, Gawain Towler and Zia Yusuf appointed as board members.
Scottish Greens
- Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer elected as co-leaders on 29 August.
Devolved administrations
Scottish Parliament
- Colin Smyth had the Labour whip suspended following his arrest
- Jeremy Balfour resigned from the Conservative Party, now sits as an independent
- Graham Simpson defected from the Conservative Party to Reform UK.
Scottish Government
- Professor Aisha Holloway appointed as Scotland’s chief nursing officer from November
- Children’s Hearings Scotland Board – Beth-Anne McDowall’s terms as member extended for three months until 30 September
- City of Glasgow College – Sue Irving appointed as chair for four years from 30 July until 29 July 2029
- Dumfries and Galloway NHS Board – Mark Cook appointed as chair for four years from 1 August until 31 July 2029
- Glasgow Clyde College – Chris Deery appointed as chair for four years from 30 July until 29 July 2029
- Glasgow Kelvin College – Ian Patrick appointed as Interim chair of the Board of Management for 12 months from 15 August until 14 August 2026
- Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board – Giovanni D’Alessio appointed as member for four years from 18 August until 17 August 2029; Jamie Kinlochan appointed as member for four years from 25 August until 24 August 2029
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland Board – Nicola Biagi-Hanssen re-appointed as member for four years from 1 August until 31 July 2029
- Lothian NHS Board – Martin Connor’s term as member extended for four months from 1 September until 31 December
- National Library of Scotland – Sir Drummond Bone re-appointed as chair for three months from 1 October until 31 December
- Orkney NHS Board – Fiona MacKay appointed as member for four years from 11 August until 10 August 2029
- Public Health Scotland Board – Alastair Boyle appointed as chair for four years from 1 September until 31st August 2029
- Scottish Housing Regulator – Garry Coutts appointed as chair of the board for four years from 1 August until 31 July 2029; Doris Jamieson appointed as member of the board for four years from 11 August until 10 August 2029
- Shetland NHS Board – Natasha Cornick’s term as vice-chair extended for eight months until 31 March 2026
- South Lanarkshire College – Douglas Morrison appointed as chair for four years from 7 August until 6 August 2029
- Water Industry Commission for Scotland – Jo Aston and Heather Reid appointed as members to the board for four years from 11 August until 10 August 2029; Morag Sheppard appointed as members to the board for four years from 25 August until 24 August 2029
- Western Isles NHS Board – Gillian McCannon re-appointed as chair for four years until 4 July 2029; Ian McCorquodale appointed as member for four years from 18 August until 17 August 2029.
Welsh Parliament
- Hefin David (Labour), MS for Caerphilly, died on 12 August. A by-election will take place in due course
- Local Government and Housing Committee – Laura Anne Jones discharged.
Welsh Government
Dr Gwenllian Lansdown Davies appointed as chief executive of the new professional learning and leadership body for the education sector from 1 September
Procurement Subgroup of the Social Partnership Council – Anthony Hunt and Ruth Brady appointed as co-chairs
Qualifications Wales – Paul Bevan appointed as chair of the board from 1 October
Sport Wales – Baroness Grey-Thompson re-appointed as chair of the board for three years; Rajma Begum, Nicola Mead-Batten and Hannah Murphy re-appointed as board members for 13 months until 30 September 2026.
Northern Ireland Assembly
Jon Burrows (UUP) co-opted as MLA for North Antrim on 4 August; replacing Colin Crawford who resigned.
Northern Ireland Executive
- Claire Keatinge appointed as commissioner for public appointments for Northern Ireland for five years from 22 August
- Joe McVey appointed as commissioner for victims and survivors for Northern Ireland for four years from 6 October
- Arts Council of Northern Ireland Board – Ray Hall re-appointed as member from 1 September until 31 August 2029
- Historic Buildings Council – Dr Kyle Leyden, Dr Donal McAnallen, Liam McKinley and Carol Ramsey re-appointed as members until 30 June 2028
- Northern Ireland Housing Executive Board – Pauline Leeson re-appointed as member from 1 November until 31 October 2030; Chris Welch re-appointed as member from 1 November until 30 November 2029
- Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland – Brendan Garland, Philip Knox and Gary McMurray appointed as lay members from 1 August until 31 July 2029; Scott Gill appointed as registrant member from 1 August until 31 July 2029
- Utility Regulator – Paul McGowan and Anthony Pygram appointed as board members for seven years from 25 August
- Warrenpoint Harbour Authority – Fiona Hanna’s term as non-executive member extended for one month from 1 until 31 August.
Councils
East Hertfordshire Council – Helen Standen appointed as chief executive on a permanent basis from 20 August
Westmorland and Furness Council – Sam Plum to stand down as chief executive from December
West Northamptonshire Council – Amanda Earnshaw to stand down as chief executive later this year.
Police and Crime Commissioners
- Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire – Rupert Matthews defected from the Conservative Party to Reform UK on 4 August.
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