Augustine Thomas O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell, (born 1 October 1952) is a former British senior
civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
and economist, who between 2005 and 2011 (under three Prime Ministers) served as the Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the British Civil Service.
O'Donnell announced after the 2010 General Election that he would step down within that Parliament and did so at the end of 2011. His post was then split into three positions: he was succeeded as Cabinet Secretary by Sir Jeremy Heywood, as Head of the Home Civil Service by
Sir Bob Kerslake
Robert Walter Kerslake, Baron Kerslake, (born 28 February 1955) is a British retired senior civil servant. He was the Head of the Home Civil Service, after the retirement of the former holder, the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell on 31 Dece ...
(in a part-time role), and as
Permanent Secretary
A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...
in the
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...
by Ian Watmore. Whilst Cabinet Secretary, O'Donnell was regularly referred to within the Civil Service, and subsequently in the popular press, as ''GOD''; this was mainly because of his initials. In 2012, O'Donnell joined Frontier Economics as a senior advisor.
Background
O'Donnell was born and raised in south London. Educated at
Salesian College
A Salesian school is an educational institution run by the Roman Catholic Salesian Congregation of Saint John Bosco (or Don Bosco), and one that uses his methods. Salesian schools are dedicated to young people in an educational and formative envir ...
,
Battersea
Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park.
History
Batter ...
MPhil
The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...
lecturer
Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
before transferring next door to serve as press secretary to the prime minister from 1990 to 1994.
From 1997 to 1998, O'Donnell was the United Kingdom's Executive Director to both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, again in Washington, before returning to HM Treasury to serve as both Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Prospects and also Head of the Government Economics Service, with overall responsibility for the professional economists in Her Majesty's Government. A year later, in 1999, he was appointed Managing Director of Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance, with responsibility for Fiscal Policy, International Development, and European Union Economic and Monetary Union.
Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service
On 8 July 2002, O'Donnell took over from Sir Andrew Turnbull as Permanent Secretary of the Treasury following the appointment of Sir Andrew as Cabinet Secretary. Three years later, on 15 June 2005, it was announced that O'Donnell would again replace Turnbull, this time as Cabinet Secretary, on the latter's imminent retirement. He took up office in August 2005.
O'Donnell is known for his "wondrous interpersonal gifts" and his informal style. He regularly visited Civil Service departments outside London "to meet civil servants at work".
During his time as Cabinet Secretary, his authority was seen as absolute, giving rise to the affectionate nickname "GOD" based on his initials as they appeared in Government papers.
The annual remuneration for this position was £235,000.
In his role as Cabinet Secretary, O'Donnell was responsible for overseeing the review of Christopher Meyer's controversial memoirs, ''DC Confidential'', in November 2005. The previous month he had told the
Public Administration Select Committee
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, formerly the Public Administration Select Committee, is a select committee appointed by the British House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary and Health S ...
that it was "wrong" for civil servants to publish personal memoirs.
'' Channel 4 News'' on 10 August 2010 had reported that O'Donnell would leave his post before the end of the current Parliament.
In January 2011, it emerged that O'Donnell had decided not to publish correspondence sent between Tony Blair and George W Bush prior to the 2003 invasion. The papers were, however, provided to the
Iraq Inquiry
The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)Sir John Chilcot.
In November 2010, O'Donnell published a draft copy of the Cabinet manual. This document outlines the laws, rules and conventions that apply to the British executive.
On 11 October 2011, it was announced by Downing Street that O'Donnell was to retire at the end of the year. His successor was announced as the Downing Street
Permanent Secretary
A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...
Jeremy Heywood. However the roles of Cabinet Secretary, Head of the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office were split.
On 22 December 2011, O'Donnell said that the future of the Union is one of several "enormous challenges" facing the political establishment in the coming years. The admission from such a senior non-political figure that the break-up of Britain is now a real possibility is likely to push the issue up the political agenda. "Over the next few years there will be enormous challenges, such as whether to keep our kingdom united," he warns officials and politicians.
Post-Cabinet Secretary
In addition to being the chair of Frontier Economics, O'Donnell is also visiting professor to the London School of Economics and University College London.
He is also a trustee of the Economist Group.
He is a strategic adviser to the chief executive of Toronto Dominion Bank, a fellow of the Institute for Government
and was the chairman of the Commission on Wellbeing at the Legatum Institute.
In 2015, he was co-author of the report that launched the Global Apollo Programme, which calls for developed nations to commit to spending 0.02% of their GDP for 10 years, to fund co-ordinated research to make carbon-free
baseload electricity
The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants, dispatchable generation, or by a collection of smaller intermittent en ...
O'Donnell has been a leader in the wellbeing and happiness movements. He chaired the development group of founding partners setting up the
What Works Centre for Wellbeing
What or WHAT may refer to:
* What, an interrogative pronoun and adverb
* "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism
Film and television
* ''What!'' (film) or ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava
* '' Wha ...
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
as Baron O'Donnell, of Clapham in the London Borough of Wandsworth, and was introduced in the House of Lords, where he sits as a
crossbencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
, on 12 January 2012. In his first speech in the House of Lords, in June 2012, O'Donnell warned that too many Treasury officials were leaving and that staff are underpaid, and that the Treasury may be struggling to address the problems caused by the ongoing global financial turmoil.
Political views
O'Donnell supports a liberal immigration policy, saying in 2011 that " en I was at the Treasury I argued for the most open door possible to immigration … I think it’s my job to maximise global welfare not national welfare." O'Donnell has repeated this view in a milder form in newspaper articles, and thinks that his views about immigration are in the interests of the average British person, notwithstanding some short-term losers.
In July 2017 he warned that "there was no way Brexit would happen smoothly."
Personal interests
O'Donnell is a keen sportsman, having played
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
for the University of Warwick First XI and for Oxford, earning two Blues in 1973/4 and 1974/5. While Permanent Secretary at the Treasury he won a football medal at the annual Civil Service Sports Day—the first Permanent Secretary to do so. O'Donnell has played for the ''Mandarins Cricket Club'' for many years, the third Cabinet Secretary to do so (the others being Sir Robin Butler and Sir
Andrew Turnbull
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...
). He is a keen supporter of Manchester United.
In 2010, '' The Tablet'' named him as one of Britain's most influential Roman Catholics.
O'Donnell was formerly a governor of his alma mater, Salesian College, Battersea.
1994 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1994 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other c ...
2005 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2005 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2005 to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of
2005. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged first by the coun ...