Rt Hon Peter Riddell CBE

Peter Riddell was Director of the Institute for Government from January 2012 until August 2016. He was previously a Senior Fellow at the Institute and divided his time there with his work for the Detainee Inquiry, a privy counsellor panel looking at whether the British Government was implicated in the improper treatment of detainees held by other countries (a role from which he resigned at the end of 2011 to concentrate on work at the Institute). At the Institute, he co-authored reports on transitions and ministerial effectiveness and has been closely involved in work on political and constitutional reform.

Until mid-2010, Peter was a journalist for nearly 40 years, split between the Financial Times and The Times, where he had been their domestic political analyst and commentator. He has been a regular broadcaster, has written seven books and delivered frequent lectures. He chaired the Hansard Society, a non-partisan charity which promoters understanding of Parliament and representative democracy, for five years until mid-2012. Peter has received two honorary doctorates of literature, is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Political Studies Association and was one of the first recipients of the President’s medal of the British Academy. He was appointed to the Privy Council in July 2010 in order to serve on the Detainee Inquiry and was made a CBE in the June 2012 Birthday Honours List. He carried out the triennial review of the Committee on Standards in Public Life for the Cabinet Office in late 2012. 

He was the Public Appointments Commissioner from April 2016 to September 2021.