The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office is traditionally the head of the Prime Minister's Office in 10 Downing Street. In the Civil Service,the role is currently graded as director general.
Nicholas Ian Macpherson,Baron Macpherson of Earl's Court,is a former senior British civil servant. He served as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2016.
Paul Richard Charles Gray,is a British former civil servant who was chairman of HM Revenue &Customs until he resigned on 20 November 2007.
Dame Susan Jane Owen is a former British civil servant,economist and former academic. She served as the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Digital,Culture,Media and Sport from October 2013 until her retirement in March 2019.
Sir Thomas Whinfield Scholar is a British civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2022. He was previously the prime minister's adviser on European and global issues in the Cabinet Office from 2013 to 2016. He has been a director of the nationalised bank Northern Rock,and served as chief of staff for Gordon Brown.
Sir Jonathan Andrew de Sievrac Stephens,KCB is a retired British civil servant who was Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office between 2014 and 2020,and the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Culture,Media and Sport between 2006 and 2013. On his retirement,he was replaced as Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office by Madeleine Alessandri.
Mark Philip Sedwill,Baron Sedwill,is a British diplomat and senior civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service to Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the United Kingdom National Security Adviser from 2017 to 2020. He was previously the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan in 2010. He was the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office from February 2013 to April 2017.
Jeremy John Heywood,Baron Heywood of Whitehall,was a British civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary to David Cameron and Theresa May from 2012 to 2018 and Head of the Home Civil Service from 2014 to 2018. He served as the Principal Private Secretary to Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 1999 to 2003 and 2008 to 2010. He also served as Downing Street Chief of Staff and the first Downing Street Permanent Secretary. After he was diagnosed with lung cancer,he took a leave of absence from June 2018,and retired on health grounds on 24 October 2018,receiving a life peerage;he died a fortnight later on 4 November 2018.
Sir Martin Eugene Donnelly,is a British former civil servant. His roles included permanent secretary of the Department for Business,Innovation and Skills (2010–2016),and of the Department for International Trade (2016–2017).
Sir Robert John Devereux,KCB is a retired senior British civil servant,who served as Permanent Secretary for the Department for Transport from 2007 to 2011,and oversaw a new policy increasing the UK retirement age to 67 at the Department for Work and Pensions from 2011 until his retirement at 61 in January 2018.
Nicholas Beverley Joicey is Second Permanent Secretary and Group Chief Operating Officer at the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs. He was briefly Director General of the Cabinet Office's Economic and Domestic Secretariat,having previously been Director General for Finance at the Department for Work and Pensions,and before that,Director General for Strategy,International and Finance at the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs. He previously worked as private secretary and speech writer to United Kingdom Chancellor Gordon Brown,as a journalist at The Observer newspaper and as director of the International Department at HM Treasury.
Sir Oliver Robbins is a former senior British civil servant who served as the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and the chief Brexit negotiator from 2017 to 2019. He was a controversial figure among Brexit supporters for his perceived pro-European stance. He previously served as the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union from July 2016 to September 2017,and as the Prime Minister's Advisor on Europe and Global Issues from June 2016 to July 2016. Since 2019,he has been an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs.
James Edward Bowler CB is a senior British civil servant currently serving as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022 having previously served as permanent secretary at the Department for International Trade since 2021. Before assuming this role,Bowler was the second permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office from 2020 to 2021 where he led the COVID Taskforce for the British Government. He was the Director General for Policy,Communication and Analysis at the Ministry of Justice from March to October 2020. Bowler is currently Trustee of the charity Police Now.
Sir James Alan Harra,is a British civil servant who has been First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of HM Revenue and Customs since October 2019,in succession to Sir Jonathan Thompson.
The Honours Committee is a committee within the Cabinet Office of the Government of the United Kingdom formed to review nominations for national honours for merit,exceptional achievement or service. Twice yearly the Honours Committee submits formal recommendations for the British monarch's New Years and Birthday Honours. Members of the Honours Committee—which comprises a main committee and nine subcommittees in speciality areas—research and vet nominations for national awards,including knighthoods and the Order of the British Empire.
Sir Richard Nicholas Heaton,KCB is a barrister and former senior British civil servant who was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from September 2015 until resigning in August 2020. He had previously served as Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary,and First Parliamentary Counsel. He currently serves as Warden of Robinson College,Cambridge.
Dame Sharon Michele White,Lady Chote,is a British businesswoman who served as the sixth Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership,having previously held a variety of roles in the Civil Service.
Sir Charles Fergusson Roxburgh is a British civil servant who was Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury from 2016 to 2022.
Sarah Elizabeth Healey is a British civil servant,appointed as Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Housing,Communities and Local Government in February 2023. Previously,she was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Digital,Culture,Media and Sport (DCMS).
A permanent under-secretary of state,known informally as a permanent secretary,is the most senior civil servant of a ministry in the United Kingdom,charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. Permanent secretaries are appointed under a scheme in which the prime minister has the final say in the recruitment process;since 2015,the PM chooses directly from a list created by the Civil Service Commissioners rather than only having a veto over the Commissioners' preferred candidate.
