Sir Michael Thomas Lyons (born 15 September 1949), is the non-executive chairman of the English Cities Fund and Participle Ltd, and a former Chairman of the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

. A former Labour Party councillor and council chief executive in the United Kingdom, he was also involved in some of the key central government commissions and reports into local government finance from 2000 to 2007.

Career

Michael Lyons was educated at Stratford Grammar School, London,

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

, and Queen Mary & Westfield College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Whilst completing his formal education, he worked for two years as a part-time street trader at Bell St Market, London. Lyons then worked as a lecturer in economics at Wallbrook College, London, and the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. Lyons worked in the public sector as an economist, and between 1980 and 1983 served as an elected

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...

. He then became Chief Executive of three significant local authorities: Wolverhampton Borough Council (1985–90);

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...

(1990–94); and finally

(1994–2001). In 2004 he was the chaired two successful government projects: the ''Review of Public Sector Relocation'' on behalf of the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, and the ''Corporate Governance Commission'' on behalf of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

City Council. He was Deputy Chairman of the Audit Commission for two years until October 2006, including a period as acting chairman. In March 2007, he published the final report and recommendations from his three-year independent inquiry into the future role, function and funding of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

. Lyons was the Head of

Inlogov Inlogov, founded in 1964, is the Institute of Local Government Studies at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. It is a centre for the applied study of local and community governance Community governance consist of a system of laws, ...

, the leading Local Government

Public Policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

school in the United Kingdom at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

from 2001 to 2006, and was awarded an honorary

LL.D Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the earl ...

by Birmingham University in 2009. He also holds an honorary doctorate from

. Lyons is a governor of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

as well as a non-executive director on the boards of

Mouchel Mouchel Group was an infrastructure and business services company headquartered in Woking, United Kingdom. It provided advisory, design, project delivery and managed services associated with infrastructure and business services across the high ...

, Wragge & Co Solicitors and SQW Group Ltd. A former chairman of the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

and former member of the boards of City Pride, Birmingham Marketing Partnership and Millennium Point Property Trust Company, he was also previously a director of

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...

, until 1993. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in January 2000 for Services to Local Government.

BBC chairman

On 1 May 2007, Lyons was appointed Chairman of the

, following Michael Grade's departure to become Executive Chairman of rival broadcaster ITV. On 3 August 2007, a

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

all-party select committee criticised the appointment process, claiming government ministers had too much influence over his appointment. Lyons dismissed the allegations, pledging "absolute independence and impartiality". On 14 September 2010, Lyons announced that he had written to

Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...

, the

Culture Secretary The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department f ...

, to explain that he would serve for only one four-year term and would not seek reappointment in May 2011. He cited a growing workload for the part-time role had made him anxious which in turn had been "crowding out" other demands on his time. He was succeeded in May 2011 by

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...

Housing Commission

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when the ...

2013, the Leader of the Opposition,

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

, launched a Housing Commission to review public policy of Housing in the United Kingdom. Sir Michael Lyons headed this commission and published the report on 16 October 2014. A summary of the initial parameters is given by

Civic Voice Civic Voice is the national charity for the civic movement in England. It was set up in 2010 following the demise of the Civic Trust. It is based in Birmingham at the Coffin Works. Its Executive Director and Joint Founder is Ian Harvey. The presi ...

The full report can be foun
here

Personal

Lyons is married with three children and lives in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

, Birmingham.

References

External links

Profile
englishcitiesfund.co.uk; accessed 30 December 2015
Profile
participle.net; accessed 30 December 2015

9 July 2004; accessed 30 December 2015
The Lyons Housing Review
16 October 2014; accessed 17 October 2017] {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Michael 1949 births Living people Chairmen of the BBC Trustees of the British Broadcasting Corporation Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Middlesex University Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Knights Bachelor Local government officers in England Councillors in Birmingham, West Midlands Labour Party (UK) councillors Chief officers of local government bodies in the United Kingdom