John James Pullinger CB (born 1 June 1959) was the National Statistician for the United Kingdom, serving in this role from 1 July 2014 until retiring on 30 June 2019.[1][2] He was succeeded on an interim basis by Deputy National Statistician Jonathan Athow,[3] and by Sir Ian Diamond on a permanent basis from October 2019.[4] He became Chairman of the Electoral Commission on 1 May 2021.[5]
John James Pullinger | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom National Statistician | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 30 June 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May |
| Minister for the Cabinet Office | Francis Maude Matt Hancock Ben Gummer Damian Green David Lidington |
| Preceded by | Dame Jil Matheson |
| Succeeded by | Sir Ian Diamond |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 June 1959 |
| Education | University of Exeter Harvard Business School |
Career
editPullinger worked from 1980 to 1985 for the Department of Trade and Industry as a statistician [6]. From 1985 to 1991 he worked in the Department of the Environment [7]. From 1991 to 1992 he was Head of Pay Research at the Office of Manpower Economics [8]. From 1992 he was Director and Deputy Director at the Office of National Statistics [9]. From 2004 to 2014 he was Librarian of the House of Commons and Director General, Information Services [10]. He was the President of the Royal Statistical Society between 2013 and 2014. [11]. [12][13][2][14]
In 2014, Pullinger was appointed to replace Dame Jil Matheson as the UK National Statistician, Head of Governmental Statistical Service, Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority and Permanent Secretary of the ONS [15]. He held this role until 2019. During this period he also chaired the United Nations Commission responsible for setting global measurement standards [16].[14] As of 2015, Pullinger was paid a salary of between £150,000 and £154,999, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[17]
From 2019 to 2021 he was president of the International Association for Official Statistics. [18]. On 1 May 2021, Pullinger became Chairman of the Electoral Commission.[5][19]
Education and honours
editPullinger was educated at Alleyn's School, Dulwich, the University of Exeter where he gained a First Class Degree in Statistics and Geography in 1980 and Harvard Business School in 2003. [20][12][2] In the 2014 New Year Honours, Pullinger was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) "for services to Parliament and voluntary service to the community through Great Culverden Park Ltd."[21] [22].
In 2016, Pullinger was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Exeter for outstanding achievements in the field of statistics and also received an honorary degree from the University of Essex the same year [23][24] In 2018, he received an honorary degree from the University of the West of England.[25] He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. [26].
References
edit- ^ Spence, Peter (12 May 2014). "Meet John Pullinger: The UK's new national statistician". City A.M. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Pullinger, John James". Who's Who 2016 (online ed.). A & C Black. 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ "Announcement of an interim National Statistician". UK Statistics Authority. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
- ^ "Ian Diamond appointed as UK's National Statistician". UK Statistics Authority. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- ^ a b "Our Commissioners". www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
- ^ . The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 9
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 9
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 9
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 9
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 8 & 9
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 8
- ^ a b "New president takes over" (PDF). RSS News. Vol. 41, no. 1. Royal Statistical Society. February 2013. pp. 1 & 3.
- ^ "John Pullinger - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Appointment of the Chair of the Electoral Commission". The Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission. 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 7 & 8
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 7 & 8
- ^ "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 7
- ^ Malnick, Edward (26 June 2021). "Britain's election watchdog stands 'ready' to organise indyref2". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 10.
- ^ "New Years Honours List—United Kingdom". The London Gazette. No. 60728. 31 December 2013. p. 1.
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 9 & 10
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 10
- ^ . "Honorary graduates". www.essex.ac.uk. University of Essex. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Honorary degree awarded to John Pullinger". Bristol Business School blog. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission First Report 3 March 2021 page 10