Who's been hired, fired or retired this week in UK politics – 9 December

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Houses of Parliament:

House of Commons

Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West, Conservative whip restored.

Conor McGinn, MP for St Helens North, suspended by the Labour Party pending an investigation. He now sits as an Independent MP.

Julian Knight, MP for Solihull, Conservative whip suspended following a complaint made to the Metropolitan Police. He now sits as an Independent MP.

Public Accounts – Simon Clarke and Jill Mortimer added; Angela Richardson discharged.

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs – Jo Gideon added; Jackie Doyle-Price discharged.

House of Lords

Frances O'Grady (Labour) raised to the peerage as Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway on 9 December. The date of her introduction to the House of Lords is still to be announced.

Baroness Mone (Con, life peer) granted a leave of absence on 6 December.

Lord Goldsmith’s (Lab, life peer) leave of absence has ended.

UK Government:

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Civil Nuclear Police Authority – Susan Johnson OBE appointed as Chair, replacing Sir Craig Mackey QPM.

Competition Service – Ben Tidswell appointed as Member.

Department for Education

Office for Students – Dr Michael Spence’s term as Non-executive Director to end on 31 May 2025 rather than 31 December 2025; Sir Martyn Oliver appointed as Non-executive Director from 1 January 2023 until 31 December 2025.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Sarah Tiffin appointed as the UK’s Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from March 2023, succeeding Jon Lambe who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment.

Government Equalities Office

Equality and Human Rights Commission Board – Alasdair Henderson and Eryl Besse appointed as Deputy Chairs; Kunle Olulode MBE and Arif Ahmed MBE appointed as Commissioners.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services Safety Investigations Body – Ted Baker appointed as Chair, once it is established in 2023, for three years. The expected start date for the role is 1 April 2023.

Parties:

Scottish National Party

Stephen Flynn MP elected as Leader of the Westminster group.

Mhairi Black MP appointed as Deputy Leader of the Westminster group.

Martin Docherty-Hughes MP replaced Owen Thompson MP as Chief Whip.

Stewart Malcolm McDonald MP resigned as SNP Spokesperson for Defence.

Pete Wishart MP resigned as SNP Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Chris Law MP resigned as SNP Spokesperson for International Development.

Devolved Administrations:

Welsh Government

Derek Walker appointed as Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, replacing Sophie Howe whose term ends in early 2023.

Local Authorities:

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Bury Council – Lynne Ridsdale appointed as Chief Executive; she is currently Deputy Chief Executive.

Copeland Council – Pat Graham to stand down as Chief Executive; Steven Brown appointed as Interim Chief Executive until the new Cumberland Council takes over in April 2023.

Stirling Council – Carol Beattie to stand down as Chief Executive in 2023.

Tameside Council – Sandra Stewart appointed as Chief Executive; she has been Interim Chief Executive since June.

Industry:

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Interest Groups

Haymarket Group – Lord Heseltine to retire as Chair in March 2023, he remains on the Board of Directors; Rupert Heseltine will succeed him as Chair; Sam Gyimah appointed as Adviser to the board; Sue Biggs appointed as Non-executive Director; David Fraser and Lord Levene of Portsoken to stand down as Non-executive Directors.

Institute of Economic Development – Tom Stannard appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors. He is currently Chief Executive of Salford City Council.

Media

BBC – Sir Damon Buffini appointed as Deputy Chair of the BBC Board; Gary Newman, Ian Griffiths and Claire Hungate appointed as Non-executive Directors of the BBC Commercial Board for three years from 1 April 2023.

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Who was hired, fired, retired last week – 2 December

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