Sir Roy Alexander Stone (born 1961) is a former British civil servant. From 2000 until 2021, he was Principal Private Secretary to the

Government Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

Career

Born in 1961, Stone joined HM Civil Service in 1977 to work in project management in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(MoD). In 1983, he moved to the MoD Procurement Executive. In 1988, he joined the staff at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

as a duty clerk, then working as a parliamentary clerk from 1989 to 1998."Stone, Sir Roy (Alexander)"
''Who's Who'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 10 March 2020. In 1998, he joined the office of the Government Chief Whip and worked as deputy to the Principal Private Secretary, Murdo Maclean. Stone succeeded Maclean on the latter's retirement in 2000 and has held the office since."New Year Honours - High Awards"
(Cabinet Office, 28 December 2018). Retrieved 10 March 2020. Part of his role was to ensure that there was enough parliamentary time to pass the government's legislation; this entailed liaising with government ministers and opposition officials.Jill Sherman, "Chief Whip's link to retire", '' The Times'', 4 September 2000, p. 11.

Honours

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire "for parliamentary and public service" in the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

,
The London Gazette
', 1 December 2013 (supplement, no 60728), p. 9. and a Knight Bachelor in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

. In justifying his knighthood, 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 ...

stated that Stone "is an outstanding senior civil servant... responsible for the effective operation of the House of Commons Business Management team ... he has given unstinting service to twelve Chief Whips, and has played a vital role in delivering the Government's legislative priorities over this period".

References

1961 births British civil servants Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people {{UK-gov-bio-stub