Latest civil service & public affairs moves – June 27

UK government

• Cabinet Office – Oliver Dowden MP resigned as chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without portfolio.
• Ministry of Defence – Lord Etherton appointed to chair the independent review into the treatment of LGBT veterans affected by the pre-2000 ban on homosexuality in the armed forces.
• Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Arts Council England – Sukhy Johal MBE re-appointed as Midlands area chair for three years and three months from 1 September until 30 November 2025; Kate Willard OBE re-appointed as north area chair and Professor Roni Brown re-appointed as southeast area chair for one year and three months from 1 September until 30 November 2023; Andrew Miller MBE and Elisabeth Murdoch re-appointed as national council ,embers for three years and three months from 1 September until 30 November 2025. Imperial War Museum – Hugh Bullock and Lt Gen Andrew Figgures re-appointed as trustees for three years and five months from 1 September until 31 January 2026; Mark Urban re-appointed as trustee for three years and five months from 16 October until 15 March 2026.
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Hamish Cowell – CMG appointed Her Majesty's ambassador to the Lebanese Republic from July, succeeding Dr Ian Collard OBE who will be transferring to another diplomatic service appointment. Sarah Montgomery OBE appointed as UK special envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea.
• Department of Health and Social Care – Henrietta Hughes named as the preferred candidate for patient safety commissioner. The Health and Social Care Select Committee has been invited to hold a pre-appointment hearing and to report on Ms Hughes' suitability for the post.
• Department for International Trade – John Humphrey appointed as Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner to Africa.
• Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Planning Inspectorate – Trudi Elliott re-appointed as chair of the board for four years until 31 March 2026; Stephen Tetlow and Sally Dixon’s terms as board members extended for 12 months from 22 July to 21 July 2023.
• Northern Ireland Office – Dr Lesley Carroll appointed as a civil service commissioner for Northern Ireland for five years from 1 July until 30 June 2027.
• Department for Transport: National Highways – Diego Oliva appointed as a non-executive director.
• HM Treasury: UK Government Investments – Andrew Duff re-appointed as non-executive director for three years until 7 July 2025.

Houses of Parliament

House of Commons

• Tiverton and Honiton by-election result – Richard Foord won the seat for the Liberal Democrats with a majority of 6,144.
• Wakefield by-election result – Simon Lightwood won the seat for Labour with a majority of 4,925.
• Patrick Grady was suspended from the service of the House from 20-21 June.
• Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee – Sara Britcliffe added; Matt Vickers discharged.
• Petitions Committee – Scott Benton added; Katherine Fletcher discharged.

House of Lords

• Shaista Gohir (crossbench, life peer) was raised to the peerage as Baroness Gohir, of Hall Green in the City of Birmingham on 24 June and will be introduced to the House of Lords on 27 June.
• Baroness Greengross (crossbench, life peer) died on 23 June.
• Fraud Act 2006 and Digital Fraud Committee – Lord Triesman added; Baroness Taylor of Bolton discharged.
• Industry and Regulators Committee – Baroness McGregor-Smith and Baroness Taylor of Bolton added.

Political parties

Labour

• Olivia Blake MP resigned as shadow minister for climate change.

Devolved administrations

Northern Ireland Executive

• Tom Evans appointed as certification officer for Northern Ireland from 15 June to 14 June 2027.
• North West Regional College – Jennifer McKeever appointed as temporary chair of the Governing Body from 1 July until the appointment of a permanent chair.

Local authorities

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• Braintree District Council – Dan Gascoyne appointed as chief executive from late September.
• Bracknell Forest Council – Susan Halliwell appointed as chief executive from the autumn.
• Bolton Council – Tony Oakman will retire as chief executive in October.
• Scottish Borders Council – Netta Meadows to step down as chief executive in September.

Industry

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Interest Groups

• ActionAid UK – Frances Longley has stepped down as chief executive.
• Amnesty International UK – Sacha Deshmukh appointed as chief executive. He has been interimchief executive since May 2021.
• British Science Association – Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE appointed as president for 2022-23 from September.

Media

• Sun on Sunday – Kate Ferguson appointed political editor from the summer.