John Kingman (businessman)

Sir John Oliver Frank Kingman KCB FRS FMedSci (born 24 April 1969) has been Chair of Legal & General Group Plc since 2016. He is also Chair of Barclays UK, the ring-fenced retail bank of Barclays PLC, and a member of the Barclays PLC board.

He has been Deputy Chair of the National Gallery since 2018 (and twice served as acting Chair).^{[ citation needed ]}

He is a former Second Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury. ^[1]

From 2016–21, he was the first Chair of UK Research and Innovation, which oversees Government science and innovation funding of about £8bn a year. ^[1] He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. ^[2]

In 2018, he undertook a highly critical review of the Financial Reporting Council, recommending wholesale reform of the FRC and ending self-regulation of the major audit firms. ^[3]

He previously served as a member of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Advisory Council. ^[1]

Education

He was a Queen’s Scholar at Westminster School and a Casberd Scholar at St John’s College, Oxford ^[4] , where he took a 1st class degree in Modern History ^[5] ; he is now an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College. ^[6]

Career

Early in his career (1995–97) Kingman was a Financial Times Lex columnist. He also worked in the Chief Executive's office at BP from 1997 to 1998. ^{[4] [7]}

Kingman was closely involved with the response to the 2007-09 financial crisis. He handled nationalisation of Northern Rock, and led negotiations with RBS, Lloyds and HBOS on their £37bn recapitalisation. He was the first chief executive of UK Financial Investments, which managed the Government's bank shareholdings. ^{[8] [9]}

Whilst at the Treasury, Kingman was responsible for selling £16bn of Lloyds shares, the first RBS share sale, and the largest-ever UK privatisation (£13bn of mortgage assets).^{[ citation needed ]} Kingman led on liberalising the annuity market and creating the National Infrastructure Commission; he negotiated Greater Manchester's devolution deal, introducing an elected Mayor.^{[ citation needed ]} Earlier, he was responsible for a fundamental overhaul of the UK competition regime (2001 Enterprise Act), and introducing the Highly Skilled Migrants’ Programme. He was particularly involved with science funding, working on five spending reviews which prioritised science, and in 2004 led the cross-Government ten-year Science and Innovation Framework. ^[10] From 2003–06, he was a board Director of the European Investment Bank. ^[4]

From 2010 to 2012, Kingman was Global Co-Head of the Financial Institutions Group at Rothschild. ^[4]

Affiliations

Kingman is a World Fellow of Yale University ^[11] and a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. ^[12] He was a Trustee of the Royal Opera House from 2014 to 2021, ^{[13] [14]} and has been a member of the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology, ^[15] the Trilateral Commission, ^[16] the Global Advisory Committee for the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, ^[17] and the Development Board for the £37 million renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields. ^{[2] [18]} He chaired the judges for the 2017 Wolfson Economics Prize. ^[19]

Personal life

Kingman is the son of the mathematician Sir John Frank Charles Kingman FRS.

References

1. "Sir John Kingman KCB FRS". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
2. "Sir John Kingman KCB FRS FMedSci". Academy of Medical Sciences. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
3. "UK audit watchdog to be replaced by new governing body". BBC News. BBC. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
4. "Evidence on Pre-appointment hearing for MRC and UKRI – Written Evidence from Sir John Kingman" (PDF). UK Parliament Committees. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
5. "Treasury star faces tough balancing act to rebuild failed banks". Evening Standard. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
6. "Sir John Kingman KCB, FRS – St John's College, Oxford". St John’s College, Oxford. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
7. Treanor, Jill (22 May 2009). "John Kingman: the Treasury's golden boy takes on UKFI". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
8. A & C Black (2016). KINGMAN, John Oliver Frank (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2 March 2016.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
9. Government announcement Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
10. "Ten-Year Science and Innovation Framework" (PDF). Foundation for Science and Technology. Foundation for Science and Technology. 2004. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
11. "Sir John Kingman – Yale World Fellows". Yale University. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
12. "Visiting Fellows – Nuffield College, University of Oxford". Nuffield College, University of Oxford. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
13. "Sir John Kingman – Appointments". Companies House. UK Government. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
14. Brown, Mark (23 September 2014). "Royal Opera House appoints Sir John Kingman as trustee". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
15. "New members of the Council for Science and Technology confirmed". GOV.UK. UK Government. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
16. "Members and Fellows – Europe Group". Trilateral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
17. "Visiting Fellows – Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation". Saïd Business School. University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
18. "St Martin-in-the-Fields – Officers". Companies House. UK Government. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
19. Topham, Gwyn (27 April 2017). "AA boss shortlisted for Wolfson Economics Prize for UK roads plan". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2025.

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Jonathan Stephens as Managing Director, Public Services and Growth	Managing Director, Public Services and Growth, & Second Permanent Secretary HM Treasury 2007–2008	Succeeded by Tom Scholar
New title	Chief Executive, UK Financial Investments 2008–2009	Succeeded by Robin Budenberg
Preceded by Sharon White	Second Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury 2015–2016	Succeeded by Charles Roxburgh