The National Statistician is the Chief Executive of the

UK Statistics Authority cy, Y Bwrdd Ystadegau , seal = , logo = UK Statistics Authority logo.svg , formed = , jurisdiction = United Kingdom , headquarters = 1 Drummond Gate London SW1V 2QQ , employees = 3685 , budget = £256m (2018) , minister1_name = Jeremy ...

, and the Head of the UK

Government Statistical Service The Government Statistical Service (GSS) is the community of all civil servants in the United Kingdom who work in the collection, production and communication of official statistics. It includes not only statisticians, but also economists, socia ...

. The office was created by the

Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (c 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). It came into force in April 2008. Sir Michael Scholar was appointed as the first Cha ...

. The UK Statistics Authority announced that Sir Ian Diamond would take over as National Statistician in October 2019, following the retirement of

John Pullinger John James Pullinger (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. He was succeeded on an interim basis by Deputy National Statistician Jonathan At ...

in June 2019.Appointment of the National Statistican
Official announcement 6-Aug-19

Status

They are ''de facto'' permanent secretaries but do not use that title. As the ONS incorporated the

OPCS The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), was created in May 1970 through the merger of the General Register Office and the Government Social Survey Department. It was a forerunner and constituent, with the UK Central Statistical Of ...

, the Director also became the

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital records ...

for England and Wales. Following the implementation of the

, the

General Register Office General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital record ...

continues to be part of a ministerially accountable department, becoming a part of the Identity & Passport Service in the Home Office and the post of Registrar-General is now held by its head.

National Statisticians

* The first Director of ONS was

Tim Holt Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures. In a career spanning mo ...

. Subsequent Directors have had this additional title, the National Statistician. * The second Director was

Len Cook Leonard Warren Cook CBE CRSNZ (born 13 April 1949) is a professional statistician who was Government Statistician of New Zealand from 1992 to 2000, and National Statistician and Director of the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics, and ...

, who had previously held a similar post in New Zealand. * He was succeeded by Dame Karen Dunnell on 1 September 2005. *

Jil Matheson Dame Jilian Norma Matheson (born 27 March 1953) is the former National Statistician of the United Kingdom. Career Matheson joined the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in 1975. She worked on the Expenditure and Food Survey and the Gener ...

succeeded Karen Dunnell on 1 September 2009.Appointment of the National Statistician
Official announcement 6-Aug-09 *

succeeded Jil Matheson on 1 July 2014 and retired in June 2019. *

Ian Diamond Sir Ian David Diamond (born 14 March 1954) is a British statistician, academic, and administrator, who served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen until 2018. He became the UK's National Statistician in October 2019. ...

succeeded John Pullinger on 22 October 2019.

References

{{reflist

External links

UK Statistics Authority's National Statistician homepage
Civil servants in the Office for National Statistics