Nicholas Ian Macpherson, Baron Macpherson of Earl's Court, (born 14 July 1959) is a former senior British

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 ...

. He served as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2016. Macpherson was Permanent Secretary to three Chancellors. He managed the department through the financial and wider economic crisis which began in 2007. Macpherson was nominated for a crossbench peerage in

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

's 2016 resignation Honours, and joined the House of Lords on 4 October 2016.

Early life

Macpherson was educated at Ashdown House and Eton College.''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

2010'',

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

, 2010, He later attended

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

(where he read Politics and Economics) and University College London.

Career

Macpherson first worked as an economist at the CBI and Peat Marwick Consulting.

Treasury

Macpherson entered HM Treasury in 1985. From 1993 to 1997, he was Principal Private Secretary to the

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 ...

; he oversaw the transition from Kenneth Clarke to Gordon Brown as Chancellor. From 1998 to 2001, he was Director of Welfare Reform. From 2001 to 2004, he was head of the Public Services Directorate, where he managed the 2000 and 2002 spending reviews. From 2004 to 2005 Macpherson managed the Budget and Public Finance Directorate, where he was responsible for tax policy and the budget process. Macpherson succeeded Sir Gus (now Lord) O'Donnell as Permanent Secretary of the Treasury, when the latter moved to be the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service in 2005. Macpherson came to prominence during the

2014 Scottish independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side w ...

when he advised George Osborne against entering into a currency union with any Scottish independent state, which was contrary to initial

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

plans. He stepped down from the Treasury on 31 March 2016.

Other positions

Macpherson was a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and is a visiting professor at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. Macpherson is Chairman of C. Hoare & Co and on the Board of British Land and the Scottish American Investment Trust.

Personal life

He is the father of Fred Macpherson, frontman and vocalist of indie rock band Spector.

Honours

Macpherson was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

, and promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the same Order (GCB) in the

2015 Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

. Macpherson was nominated for a

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 ...

age in the

2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours The 2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours are honours awarded following the July 2016 resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron. The life peerages and other honours were issued as two separate lists by the Cabinet Office on 4 August 2016 and ...

and was created Baron Macpherson of Earl's Court, of Earl's Court in the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

, on 4 October.

References

External links

BBC Radio 4 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, Nicholas 1959 births Living people British people of Dutch descent Crossbench life peers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Permanent Secretaries of HM Treasury Private secretaries in the British Civil Service People educated at Ashdown House People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of University College London Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Life peers created by Elizabeth II