Chief Economic Adviser, Director General Economics and Fiscal, Head of the Government Economic Service

Professor Brian Bell

Biography

Professor Bell was appointed as Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury in February 2026.

Prior to this, he was Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee and Professor of Economics at King’s Business School, King’s College London. He joined the MAC in 2018 and KCL in 2017, following 4 years as an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Oxford University and a Tutorial Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and a trustee of the Nuffield Foundation.

Professor Bell is a leading labour economist who is widely published. He has worked extensively outside of academia, including roles at the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund, as well as positions in the private sector, working as an economist and proprietary trader for hedge funds and investment banks in London.

Chief Economic Adviser, Director General Economics and Fiscal, Head of the Government Economic Service

Chief Economic Adviser & Director General Economics and Fiscal

Responsibilities include:

  • Principal adviser to the Chancellor, Prime Minister and Treasury Ministers on the macroeconomy, fiscal policy and growth, as well as the macroeconomic and microeconomic implications of wider policy issues.
  • Lead the Treasury’s relationships with the monetary and markets side of the Bank of England, the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Debt Management Office and its relations with the markets, and international institutions including the IMF and OECD (as they relate to the UK economy).

Head of the Government Economic Service

Responsibilities include:

  • Leading the GES community to champion the use of economics and support economists across government
  • Chairing the GES Corporate Board, helping to direct core policy decisions and leading discussion and debate among Chief Economists
  • Being the key spokesperson for the economics profession across government and to external audiences

HM Treasury

Previous roles in government

  • Interim chair of the Migration Advisory Committee
    • 2018 to 2026