Douglas Wilson KC (Hon) OBE
Biography
Douglas Wilson took up the role of Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary of the Government Legal Department on Monday 13 April 2026.
Previously, he spent four and a half years in cyber agency GCHQ as Director of Legal Affairs and International Relations, serving on the Board as part of the senior leadership.
In 2020 he spent 7 months as Acting Director General Strategy which involved oversight of GCHQ’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and of GCHQ’s pitch to the Integrated Review and Spending Review settlement.
Doug was previously Legal Director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and before that Head of International and European Law at the Attorney General’s Office. Doug spent nearly 4 years at the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York, first in a legal role and then in the UK’s Security Council Team. Doug was previously posted to the British Embassy in Baghdad as Legal Adviser and Head of the Human Rights and Justice Section and has served in various home postings as an Assistant Legal Adviser in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Doug did pupillage at 20 Essex Street Chambers and qualified as a barrister in London, having studied law at Glasgow, Copenhagen, and Cambridge.
HM Procurator General, Treasury Solicitor and Head of the Government Legal Profession
The Treasury Solicitor is the government’s most senior legal official and Permanent Secretary of the Government Legal Department. The department provides the full range of legal services to government departments and other public bodies including:
- expert advisory, litigation, commercial and employment law services
- drafting statutory instruments and other subordinate legislation
- advice on the development of new legislation, preparing instructions for bills to be drafted by Parliamentary counsel and assisting in the handling of bills in Parliament
- advice on legal policy and practice
The department is also responsible for collecting, managing and disposing of bona vacantia (ownerless property and other assets) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In addition the Treasury Solicitor acts as head of profession for the wider Government Legal Profession, which includes a number of government legal teams outside GLD.
Previous roles in government
-
Director General of the Attorney General's Office (AGO)
-
Legal Director