Preferred candidate for Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life
Update: This story was published prior to Doug Chalmers being formally appointed as Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. He took up his role on 12 December 2023.
Lieutenant General (Retired) Doug Chalmers CB DSO OBE has been announced as the government’s preferred candidate for the role of Chair of the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL).
Subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the House of Commons’ Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Doug Chalmers would commence the role shortly, following Lord Evans’ recent completion of his five year term.
Doug began his career in the British Army in 1984 as a Private Soldier. He served in the Army for 37 years. Over that time, he was stationed in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus and the United States, deploying frequently on operations. His final appointment was as the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy and Operations), an office he held from 2018 to 2021.
He is currently the Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and sits on the management board for the University’s Center for Geopolitics. He is also the Colonel Commandant of the British Army’s Queen’s Division.
The Deputy Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden, said:
Lieutenant General Doug Chalmers is an excellent candidate for the role of Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. His extensive and versatile experience in the Army, Government and academia will be a great asset to the Committee in helping to uphold ethical standards of conduct across public life.
This announcement follows an open competition for the role under the Governance Code for Public Appointments.
Since formally accepting the position, Doug said:
I am honoured to be appointed as the new Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public life. Over its nearly 29 years the Committee has an established a strong reputation for providing considered and well researched advice to the Prime Minister on how the standards landscape across public life might evolve. That advice has helped establish many of the standards bodies we see today.
My time in uniformed service taught me the importance of standards in ensuring sound judgement, behaviour and the building of both trust and confidence. Those years also demonstrated to me that maintaining standards requires active leadership. They also highlighted to me that standards need to be constantly discussed and the mechanisms that support them regularly reviewed.
My current role at Emmanuel College has given me a wider understanding of excellent academic research available in this area. It has provided me with a feel for the perceptions of the next generation about what standards in public life mean to them.
I will do my best to sustain the quality of the Committee’s work promoting the Nolan Principles across all sectors of public life and look forward to working with the members as we consider the next area for review.
Ends
Notes to editors:
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The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) is an independent advisory non-departmental public body that advises the Prime Minister on ethical standards across the whole of public life. It conducts broad inquiries, collecting evidence to assess institutions, policies and practices and makes recommendations to the Prime Minister where appropriate.
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The Committee promotes the Principles of Public Life, which outline the ethical standards those working in the public sector are expected to adhere to. The Principles apply to all public office holders and private and voluntary organisations delivering services paid for by public funds.
More information about CSPL can be found on their website.
Updates to this page
Last updated 12 December 2023 + show all updates
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Included quote and summary update.
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First published.