What is the Policy Leaders Fellowship?
The Policy Leaders Fellowship addresses the needs of the most senior policy makers – whether in Whitehall, Brussels, devolved administrations in the UK, or equivalent organisations – providing access to research and academic expertise. Launched in 2013, its discussions focus on the need for long-term thinking, the value of evidence, and fresh perspectives on key challenges.
Who is the Fellowship for?
Policy Leaders Fellows join the Fellowship by invitation. Those who take part include Permanent Secretaries and Directors-General from Whitehall and beyond, as well as Chief Executives of agencies and major corporations and foundations.
What does the Fellowship involve?
Our Leaders Fellows participate both in one-to-one meetings with leading academics and in roundtable discussions with researchers and other Fellows. The Fellowship meets once a term in Cambridge, under the Chairmanship of former UK Cabinet Secretary Lord Wilson.
Over the course of the two-year Fellowship, Fellows commit to two days of meetings per year.
What topics are covered?
Roundtable meetings have included discussions on the intelligent use of modelling in government, the future of work, cities, conspiracy and democracy, and open policy making in a digital world; they have also explored the latest thinking on academic frontiers such as biodiversity, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, blockchain, life sciences and the internet.
What are the benefits of joining the Fellowship?
- access to senior academics across all disciplines
- membership of a network of high-level policy professionals
- access to structured interactions, including the opportunity to convene bespoke discussions
- the challenge to thinking which is characteristic of the Fellowship process, promoting innovation and creative approaches.
Policy Leaders Fellows (and alumni)
Those who have completed two years as Fellows are now alumni. Current Policy Leaders Fellows and alumni/alumnae are listed below:
Policy Leaders Fellows
Gillian Beasley
Cambridgeshire County Council
James Bowler
Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
Deborah Cadman
West Midlands Combined Authority
Alex Chisholm
Cabinet Office
Juliet Chua
Department for International Development (DfID)
Shona Dunn
Home Office
Julian Kelly
NHS England
David Kennedy
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Paul Kett
Department for Education
Sam Lister
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Scott McPherson
Department for Transport (DfT)
Emily Miles
Food Standards Agency
Hayaatun Sillem
Royal Academy of Engineering
Andrew Slade
Welsh Government
Lucy Smith
Department for Education
Patrick Vallance
Government Office for Science (GO-Science)
Tracey Waltho
Cabinet Office
David Williams
Department of Health and Social Care
Policy Leaders Fellows - Alumni
Tera Allas
McKinsey & Company
Mike Anderson
Home Office
Sam Beckett
Office of National Statistics (ONS)
Deborah Bronnert
Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)
Nadia Calviño
European Commission
Lindy Cameron
Northern Ireland Office
Jon Cunliffe
Bank of England
Gareth Davies
Department for Transport (DfT)
Helen Edwards
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
Leslie Evans
Scottish Government
David Eyton
BP
Matthew Gould
NHSX
Iain Gray
Cranfield University
Paul Grice
Queen Margaret University Edinburgh
Tricia Hayes
Home Office
Sarah Healey
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Ed Humpherson
UK Statistics Authority
Joy Hutcheon
Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)
Nick Joicey
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Gavin Kelly
Resolution Foundation
Robert Madelin
Fipra International
Charlie Massey
General Medical Council (GMC)
Clive Maxwell
Department for Transport (DfT)
Jonathan Mills
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Jeremy Moore
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Shan Morgan
Welsh Government
Clare Moriarty CB
Geoff Mulgan
UCL Public Policy
Sue Owen
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
Jeremy Pocklington
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
Vikas Pota
Varkey Foundation
John Pullinger
UK Statistics Authority
Antonia Romeo
Department for International Trade (DIT)
Philip Rutnam
Home Office
Philip Rycroft
Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge
Jonathan Slater
Department for Education
Geoffrey Spence
Lloyds Banking Group
Julia Unwin
CSaP Advisory Council
Ashok Vaswani
Barclays
Peter Watkins
Ministry of Defence (MoD)
Katrina Williams
UK Permanent Representation to the EU
Chris Wormald
Department of Health and Social Care