All ministers and senior officials on GOV.UK

Sir Nic Dakin was Vice Chamberlain of HM Household (Government Whip) between 16 September 2025 and 21 July 2026. He was previously Junior Lord of the Treasury (Government Whip) from 10 July 2024 to 16 September 2025, and Par…

Sir Nicholas Kay KCMG took up his appointment as COP26 Regional Ambassador for Africa in October 2020. Find out more about COP26 , the 2021 United Nations Climate Conference. Follow Sir Nicholas on Twitter . He has previousl…

Sir Nicholas ‘Nick’ Harvey was Minister for the Armed Forces from May 2010 to September 2012. He was elected as the Liberal Democrat MP for North Devon in 1992. Education Nick was educated at Queen’s College in Taunton and M…

Sir Nigel was appointed Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management on 2 July 2018. Until 2017, Sir Nigel was the Executive Director of Schwarzman Scholars. He is one of the world’s leading human geographers and p…

Oliver Robbins was Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) from January 2025 to April 2026. Oliver was previously Partner and Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hakluyt, …

Sir Patrick Brown was Chairman of the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) from 2015 to 2018. Patrick held various positions in the Department for Transport and the Department of the Environment, becoming Second Permanent Secretary a…

Paul joined TSol as Treasury Solicitor in 2006. He is Chairman of the TSol Board and was appointed on 1 August 2006 His previous roles include: Director General, Law and Governance Group at the Department for Work and pensio…

Sir Paul Marshall is chairman and chief investment officer of Marshall Wace LLP , one of Europe’s leading hedge fund groups. He is also a founding trustee of ARK, the children’s charity, and chairman of ARK Schools; chairman…

Sir Paul Ruddock is Chair of Oxford University Endowment Management and Chair of the Oxford University Investment Committee. Sir Paul was a co-founder of Lansdowne Partners in 1998 and CEO of Lansdowne Partners Limited from …

Peter Bazalgette is a non-executive board member of the Department for Education. He joined in May 2022. Peter is also pro-chancellor of the Royal College of Art, chancellor of the University of the West of England, co-chair…

Peter Ricketts retired from the Diplomatic Service in January 2016. He was British Ambassador to France between February 2012 and January 2016. Peter is also non-resident Ambassador to Monaco. Before this posting, he was the…

Peter Schofield was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions from January 2018 to July 2026. He left government in July 2026. Previously he has worked: as Director General for Finance at DWP from July 2016…

Sir Peter Westmacott, GCMG, LVO was British Ambassador to the United States from January 2012 until January 2016. It was his second posting in Washington, having previously served as the British Embassy’s Counsellor for Poli…

Sir Philip Robert Barton KCMG OBE was the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ( FCDO ) from September 2020 to January 2025. Before this, Philip was British High Commissioner to Ind…

Sir Philip Dilley was Chair at the Environment Agency from September 2014 to 2016. He was also an ex officio member of the Defra Board. His previous roles include: Executive Chairman of Arup member of the PM’s Advisory Group…

Sir Philip Rutnam resigned from his post as Permanent Secretary of the Home Office on 29 February 2020 and subsequently began legal proceedings against the Home Office. Joining the civil service in 1987, Sir Philip is a dist…

Sir Philip Trousdell joined as Chairman of the CNPA Board in September 2011. He served in the army until 2005. Since then he has held a number of appointments in the private sector as adviser to chairmen and owners of commer…

Sir Richard Atkins was appointed Further Education Commissioner in October 2016. He was previously a college principal for 21 years, initially at Yeovil College and then at Exeter College. During his tenure at Exeter, the co…

Sir Richard Broadbent became chair of the HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Board on 1 May 2023. He spent fifteen years working at senior levels in business, serving as Chairman of Arriva plc, Tesco plc, Deputy Chairma…

Sir Richard Douglas was appointed as a non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care in March 2024. He is also chair of board’s Audit and Risk Committee. Richard’s current roles include: chair, South Eas…

Sir Richard Heaton KCB was Permanent Secretary for MOJ from August 2015 to August 2020. Before that he was Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office (from August 2012). Sir Richard started his career as a barrister, and joi…

Vice Admiral (retired) Sir Richard Ibbotson served for 38 years in the Royal Navy. He spent most of his career at sea, and also commanded British Forces Falklands Islands (including Army and Royal Air Force elements), retiri…

Sir Richard Lambert joined the Financial Times after reading history at Balliol College, Oxford. He edited the Lex column and served as financial editor and New York bureau chief before being appointed deputy editor in 1983.…

Richard Moore is the Chief of MI6, the UK Secret Intelligence Service . Richard was Director General for Political Affairs at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from April 2018 to August 2020. He served as British Ambassa…

Sir Richard Mottram is a former senior civil servant, having served in the Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office between 1968 and 2007. He is chairman of Amey, a visiting professor in the Department for Government of the Lo…

On 15 April 2012, Sir Richard Stagg took up the position of British Ambassador to Afghanistan, replacing Sir William Patey. Sir Richard Stagg was educated at Winchester College and Oriel College, Oxford where he read history…

Sir Robert Burgess was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester until September 2014. He previously held a number of roles at the University of Warwick, including Senior Pro Vice Chancellor, Founding Director of th…

Robert Devereux rejoined the Department for Work and Pensions as Permanent Secretary on 1 January 2011, having previously spent 4 years with the Department of Social Security, and 2 years with DWP when it was first created i…

Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet served as Prime Minister between 1834 to 1835 and 1841 to 1846. Read more about the life and achievements of Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet in our past Prime Ministers section.

Sir Robert Walpole served as Prime Minister between 1730 to 1742. Read more about the life and achievements of Sir Robert Walpole in our past Prime Ministers section.

Sir Robin joined Ofsted as Regional Director, South East region in April 2014. He is also currently Director, Quality and Training. For the 3 years before he joined Ofsted, Robin was Director, Primary Education for the Harri…

Sir Roy McNulty CBE is Chairman of Gatwick Airport Ltd, Chairman of Norbrook Holdings Ltd, and a non-executive director of Monarch Holdings Ltd. He chaired Advantage West Midlands from 2009 to 2012 and was also Chairman of i…

Sir Roy Stone was a non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care from April 2023 to January 2025. He has extensive experience as a former senior civil servant. He has been a Government Affairs and Parli…

Sir Sebastian Wood served as Britain’s Ambassador to Germany from September 2015 to September 2020. Before his posting to Berlin, he served as British Ambassador to China from 2010 to 2015. Sebastian joined the Diplomatic Se…

Simon Bollom graduated from Southampton University in 1981 with an honours degree in mechanical engineering. He served in the RAF as an engineering officer for 35 years and his last appointment was as Chief of Materiel (Air)…

Sir Simon Fraser was Permanent Under-Secretary, the senior policy advisor to the Foreign Secretary, from August 2010 to July 2015. He was also Head of the Diplomatic Service. On 1 March 2014, Sir Simon became the Civil Servi…

Sir Simon Gass has been the Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee since June 2019. Sir Simon was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Political Director from 2012 to 2015, where he was responsible for policy on th…

Simon has extensive experience of complex procurement programmes and change leadership from senior government roles at the Ministry of Defence. Operating at board level, Simon has led serial improvements in the naval procure…

Sir Simon McDonald was the Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office August 2015 to August 2020. Sir Simon joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1982 and served …

Stephen was the National Security Adviser from March 2021 to September 2022. Prior to this he was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence from 2016-2021 and Permanent Secretary for Department of Energy & Climate C…

Sir Stephen O’Brien was a non-executive board member of the Department for Business and Trade between February 2023 and August 2024. He was previously a non-executive director of the Department for International Trade betwee…

Sir Suma joined the Board of the Competition and Markets Authority as non-executive director in April 2026. Sir Suma Chakrabarti is a highly experienced international public servant, educated at Oxford and Sussex, with a dis…

Tom Drew is His Majesty’s Ambassador to France. Previously, Tom was Director General, Defence and Intelligence, at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ( FCDO ) until December 2023. He had been Director General…

Sir Tim Barrow was appointed as the National Security Adviser in September 2022. Prior to this, Tim was the Second Permanent Under-Secretary and Political Director at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)…

Sir Tony Hawkhead was appointed as a non-executive member of the board in July 2011. Tony is Chief Executive at Action for Children. Previously he was Chief Executive at Groundwork a charity with a £140m annual turnover deli…

Sir Vincent Fean has been British Consul General to Jerusalem since October 2010. Sir Fean joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1975. He has previously served in Tripoli as HM Ambassador to Libya between 2006 and 20…

After nearly 30 years service with the Trades Union Congress, Sir Bill became Chair of the Health and Safety Commission in 1999. He served as a founder member of the Low Pay Commission from 1997 to 2000. In 2007, he led a re…