Andrew Adonis announced as new Director of the Institute for Government

Press release: 15 July 2010

The Institute for Government is pleased to announce the appointment of Lord Adonis as its new Director from 1 September.

Andrew Adonis takes over from Lord Bichard who will become a Senior Fellow from September.

Andrew Adonis comes to the Institute with exceptional experience of Whitehall as both participant and commentator. He recently completed twelve years at the heart of government as a minister and special adviser, most recently in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport.

Prior to that he was Minister for Schools, Head of the No.10 Policy Unit, and senior Number 10 adviser on education, public services and constitutional reform. He will be withdrawing from party politics during his tenure at the Institute.

The Institute for Government is an independent charity to improve the effectiveness of government. Speaking about the appointment, Lord Sainsbury, Chair of the Governing Body of the Institute, said:

"I am delighted that Andrew Adonis will be joining the Institute as Director at the beginning of September. He is widely respected across all political parties and the civil service. He will bring to the job a wealth of experience of academic research, journalism and government, and I know will build on the excellent work that Lord Bichard has done in the first 2 years of the Institute"

Welcoming his new role, Andrew Adonis said:

"I relish this exciting new challenge to make a decisive difference to the quality of decision-making and leadership in Whitehall and Westminster.  The Institute for Government has the mission and potential to become a world class centre for research, learning and discussion of best practice in the art of government.

"My entire career has been spent in government as a practitioner, or as a close observer as a journalist and academic.  I have a passionate commitment to improving the way we are governed, a passion shared by the governors and staff of the Institute for Government whom I will be privileged to work alongside.

"The Institute for Government is a non-partisan institute with support from all political parties.  This is essential to its work and effectiveness.  I will therefore be withdrawing from party politics during my tenure as director and will become a non-voting member of the Lords on party issues."

Dr David Halpern to become Deputy Director of the Institute for Government

Andrew Adonis has appointed current Head of Research Dr David Halpern as his deputy. Announcing this new position, Andrew Adonis said:

"I am glad to announce the appointment of David Halpern as the new Deputy Director of the Institute for Government from September. David has been an outstanding research director at the Institute over the past two years.

"He devised the original plan for the Institute together with Lord Sainsbury, he has long experience of strategic policy-making in government, and of public and social policy analysis in his previous academic work at the University of Cambridge.  His experience is invaluable to the Institute."

Nick Boles MP to become a Political Fellow

The Institute is also pleased to welcome Nick Boles MP as a Political Fellow. Nick Boles was elected as Conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford on 6 May 2010.

He studied PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford, and took a Master's in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

After 10 years spent running a small manufacturing business, Nick founded the think tank Policy Exchange in 2002 and served as its Director until 2007. From 2008 until 2010, Nick ran the Conservative Party's Implementation Team. 

Background: Andrew Adonis profile

Andrew Adonis recently completed twelve years in government as a minister and special adviser, latterly as Secretary of State for Transport.

Previously he was Minister for Schools, Head of the No.10 Policy Unit under Tony Blair, and senior No. 10 adviser on education, public services and constitutional reform.

Andrew pioneered many of the key public service reforms of the Blair/Brown governments. Within education, as adviser and then Minister, he developed the Academy programme, which established more than 200 independent state schools with dynamic non-state sponsors to replace weak and failing secondary schools.  The academy model is now being extended across the school system by the coalition government.

He also helped pioneer Teach First, the successful scheme for attracting top graduates into state school teaching for at least two years after graduation; and the radical university tuition fees and grants reform of 2004.

At transport he led the development of the plan for a high-speed rail line from London to northern England and Scotland.  Within a year of his arrival at Department for Transport, a government policy statement was published including a detailed route plan for the first 100 miles from London to Birmingham, and associated economic, social and environmental assessments.  All three political parties, and the Scottish government, are now committed to building the north-south high-speed line.

Before joining government, Andrew was a journalist and academic focusing on public policy and constitutional analysis.  He was Public Policy Editor of the Financial Times, and Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, where he gained his PhD in modern political history.

Andrew Adonis is author or co-author of six books, including Failure in British Government (a study of the rise and fall of the poll tax); Roy Jenkins: A Retrospective; and A Class Act: The Myth of Britain's Classless Society.  He has been a member of the House of Lords since 2005.