Latest civil service & public affairs moves – April 4-28

Appointments in the civil service, UK politics, and public affairs, via Dods People

By Dods People

28 Apr 2025

@dodspolintel

UK government

Prime Minister's Office – Resignation Honours for non-MPs announced on 11 April: Theresa Villiers – DBE; James Anderson OBE – Knighthood; Rt Hon Grant Shapps – Knighthood; Matthew Vaughn – Knighthood; Elizabeth Perelman – CB; John Bew – CMG; Nerissa Chesterfield – CBE; Cassian Horowitz – CBE; Lisa Lovering – CBE; William Tanner – CBE; Rupert Yorke – CBE; Eden Barnes – OBE; Aidan Corley – OBE; Douglas McNeill – OBE; James Nation – OBE; Jamie Njoku-Goodwin – OBE; Lucy Noakes – OBE; Timothy Pitt – OBE; Robert Trotter – OBE; Henry de Zoete – OBE; Ronald Kirk – MBE; George Livesey – MBE; Yvonne Peacock – MBE; David McCormick – BEM; Emma Paterson – BEM. Professor Elizabeth Barnes appointed as His Majesty’s lord-lieutenant of the County of Staffordshire from 15 July on the retirement of Sir Ian Dudson.
Department for Business and Trade: Companies House – Louise Smyth to retire as president of the Corporate Registers Forum from the summer. Trade and Agriculture Commission – Lorand Bartels appointed as chair; Alasdair Cook, Alessandra Guida, Gracia Marín Durán, Donal Murphy, Andrew Prentis, Meurig Raymond, Stephanie Rickard, Kate Rowell, James Russell, Fiona Smith and Gail Soutar appointed as members. UK Endorsement Board – Paul Lee appointed as chair from September.
Cabinet Office: Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee – Maura Sullivan appointed as chair for three years
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Charity Commission for England and Wales – Tasnim Khalid and Alan Mather appointed as board members for three years from 23 April until 22 April 2028. David Kogan announced as the government’s preferred candidate for Independent Football Regulator chair, subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. National Portrait Gallery – Robert Suss appointed as trustee for four years until 9 February 2029. S4C – Delyth Evans announced as the government’s preferred candidate for chair, subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. Theatres Trust – Lucy Osborne re-appointed as trustee for three years until 20 February 2028.
Ministry of Defence – Sir Stephen Lovegrove appointed as the prime minister’s special representative on AUKUS.
Department for Education – Frances Wadsworth’s term as deputy FE commissioner extended by nine months from 1 May
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce – John Fingleton appointed as head
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Professor Anjali Goswami appointed as chief scientific adviser from 1 July. Baroness Batters appointed to lead a review of farm profitability for six months from 7 April. Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment – Professor Peter Lund, Professor Jacob Malone and Dr Andrew Prentis appointed as members until 19 February 2028. Animal and Plant Health Agency – Richard Lewis appointed as chief executive from 16 June. Environment Agency – Jon Watts appointed as non-executive board member and chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee for three years until 31 March 2028; Ines Faden da Silva re-appointed as board member for 18 months until 1 July 2026 and appointed as deputy chair of the board; Stewart Davies and Lilli Matson re-appointed as board members for 18 months until 1 July 2026.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Simon Mustard appointed as British high commissioner to Barbados and non-resident high commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from May, succeeding Scott Furssedonn-Wood who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. John Marshall appointed as His Majesty’s ambassador to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and non-resident ambassador to the Republic of Togo from June, succeeding Catherine Brooker. Sir Thomas Drew appointed as His Majesty’s ambassador to the French Republic from August, succeeding Dame Menna Rawlings. Christian Rogg appointed as British high commissioner to the Republic of Ghana from July, succeeding Harriet Thompson who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Sally Axworthy appointed as His Majesty’s ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan from August, succeeding Kathy Leach who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Ajay Sharma appointed as British high commissioner to Malaysia from April, succeeding Ailsa Terry. Paul Brummell appointed as British high commissioner to the Republic of Mauritius from July, succeeding Charlotte Pierre. Chris Rampling appointed His Majesty’s ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands from July, succeeding Joanna Roper. Greg Houston appointed as His Majesty’s ambassador to the Republic of Panama from July, succeeding James Dauris. Stephen Hitchen appointed as His Majesty’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from August, succeeding Neil Crompton.
Department of Health and Social Care – Samantha Jones appointed as permanent secretary. Dr Camilla Kingdon appointed to chair an independent review of children’s hearing services. Committee on Human Medicine – Professor Claire Stewart appointed as commissioner for four years; Professor Amanda Adler and Professor Steve Cunningham re-appointed as commissioners for two years from 1 May; Professor Yvonne Perrie re-appointed as commissioner for four years from 1 May.
Home Office: Animals in Science Committee – Dr Sally Robinson appointed as chair from 1 June
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Building Control Independent Panel – Dame Judith Hackitt appointed chair; Elaine Bailey, Ken Rivers, Nick Raynsford and Dr David Snowball appointed as members. Regulator of Social Housing – Bernadette Conroy re-appointed as chair for two years until 31 March 2028. Woking Council – Barry Scarr appointed as finance commissioner until 31 October.
Ministry of Justice: MoJ Board – Mark Rawlinson re-appointed as the lead non-executive director for 12 months until 3 March 2026. Deborah Taylor appointed to chair the statutory inquiry into the Nottingham attacks. Cafcass – Rohan Sivanandan’s term as member of the board extended from 1 July to 31 December. Civil Justice Council – Rebecca Hilsenrath KC (Hon) appointed as alternative dispute resolution member for three years. Parole Board – Alexandra Marks appointed as chair for five years from 18 July.
Northern Ireland Office – Mitchell B Reiss’ term as UK commissioner extended until 30 September 2026
Department for Transport – Richard Turfitt appointed as acting traffic commissioner for Scotland
HM Treasury: Financial Conduct Authority – Nikhil Rathi re-appointed as chief executive for five years until September 2030. National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority – Becky Wood appointed as chief executive from June; Sir John Armitt appointed as chair of the Council of Experts Advisers; Sir Tim Besley, Neale Coleman, Michele Dix, Andy Green, Jim Hall, Sadie Morgan, Julia Prescot, Kate Willard and Nick Winser appointed as Council of Experts Advisers until 31 December.
Non-Ministerial Departments: Forestry Commission – Kate Cheetham appointed as non-executive commissioner for three years until 31 March 2028; Jennie Price re-appointed as non-executive commissioner until 31 March 2027; Peter Latham’s term as non-executive commissioner extended from 30 September.

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons

Dan Norris, MP for North East Somerset and Hanham, suspended by Labour Party on 4 April
Resignation Honours for MPs announced on 11 April: Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell – KCMG; Rt Hon James Cleverly – Knighthood; Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt – Knighthood; Rt Hon Mel Stride – Knighthood
Ecclesiastical Committee – Melanie Ward added; Patricia Ferguson discharged
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee – Andrew Lewin added
Parliamentary Works Estimates Commission – Nusrat Ghani appointed as chair.

House of Lords

Lord Katz appointed as government whip (Lord in waiting)
Resignation Peerages announced on 11 April: Michael Gove; Mark Harper; Simon Hart; Sir Alister Jack; Stephen Massey; Victoria Prentis; Eleanor Shawcross (Wolfson)
Political Peerage announced on 11 April: Amanda Spielman
Conduct Committee – Lord Kakkar appointed as chair; Lord Etherton discharged.

Parties

Welsh Conservatives

Paul Davies appointed as deputy leader of the opposition; continues as chief whip and shadow cabinet secretary for the constitution; previously shadow counsel general and shadow cabinet secretary for external affairs.
Tom Giffard appointed as shadow counsel general and shadow cabinet secretary for delivery, external affairs and the Welsh language.
Samuel Kurtz continues as shadow minister for economy and energy; previously shadow minister for Welsh language.

Devolved Administrations

Scottish Parliament

Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, joined the Liberal Democrats.
Parliamentary Bureau – Willie Rennie added.
Education, Children and Young People Committee – Joe FitzPatrick added.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee – Emma Roddick added; Joe FitzPatrick discharged.

Scottish Government

Professor Rachel Sandison appointed as international education envoy until 31 March 2026.
Lord Scott appointed to chair the Emma Caldwell Public Inquiry.
Creative Scotland – Malath Abbas re-appointment as board member for four years until 31 March 2029.

Welsh Parliament

Russell George suspended from Welsh Conservative group, now sits as an independent.
Covid-19 Inquiry Special Purposes Committee – Tom Giffard and Sam Rowlands discharged.
Health and Social Care Committee – Russell George discharged as chair.
Scrutiny of the First Minister – Russell George discharged.

Welsh Government

Arts Council of Wales – Emily Bamkole, Wesley Bennett-Pearce, Ffion Haf Evans, Elid Morris, Sarah Pace, Joshua Robertson, Amanda Morgan Thomas and Nan Williams appointed as members.
Natural Resources Wales – Dr Hushneara Begum, Dr Rebecca Colley-Jones and Adam Taylor appointed as board members until 31 October 2029.

Northern Ireland Executive

Professor Nichola Rooney appointed as interim chief psychological professions officer.
Kathryn Baker appointed as chief environmental health officer.
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute – Martyn Blair, Bill Montgomery and Thérèse Rafferty’s term as members of the board extended by three months.
Construction Industry Training Board Northern Ireland – Noel Brady re-appointed as chair of the Board for three years from 18 July; Dorothy McKee and Aidan Sloane re-appointed as education representatives on the Board for three years from 25 April.
Tariff Working Group – Stuart Anderson, Stephen Kelly, Nichola Mallon and Claire Sullivan appointed as members.
US-Ireland R&D Partnership Steering Group – Dr Rob Grundy appointed as co-chair for three years.

Local Authorities

Hampshire County Council – Carolyn Williamson to retire as chief executive from July.

Rotherham Council – John Edwards appointed as chief executive subject to ratification of the Full Council on 21 May.

Rushmoor Borough Council – Paul Shackley to stand down as chief executive from 6 May 2025 for reasons of redundancy; Ian Harrison appointed as head of paid service and interim managing director.

Salford City Council – Stephen Young appointed as chief executive from autumn subject to ratification of the Full Council on 30 April.