Sir John Alistair Graham (born 6 August 1942) is a British trade unionist who was Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life from 2003 until April 2007. He was born in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, and was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and the Institute of Training and Development. He has been a visiting Fellow of

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

(1984–1991). He has Honorary Doctorates from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

and from Bradford University. He was appointed (

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

) in the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various ...

for services to the

Parades Commission The Parades Commission is a quasi-judicial non-departmental public body responsible for placing restrictions on any parades in Northern Ireland it deems contentious or offensive. It is composed of seven members, all of whom are appointed by the S ...

for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. Sir Alistair has had a long and varied career in public service. Between 1966 and 1986 he worked for the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

, the Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) as Assistant Secretary, Assistant General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary and, finally, General Secretary. His next post was as Chief Executive of the

Industrial Society In sociology, industrial society is a society driven by the use of technology and machinery to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour. Such a structure developed in the Western world in ...

(now renamed

The Work Foundation The Work Foundation is a British not-for-profit organisation and independent authority providing advice, consultancy and research on the future of work, improving the quality of working life, leadership, economic and organisational effectiveness. ...

) between 1986 and 1991, after which he became Chief Executive of

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

and

Kirklees Kirklees is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Kirklees Council with the status of a metropolitan borough. The largest town and administrative centre of Kirklees is Huddersfield, and the district also inclu ...

Training and Enterprise Council (1991–1996), then of the Leeds Training and Enterprise Council (1996–2000). During this latter period he also served as Chairman of the

for Northern Ireland (1997–2000). Between 2000 and 2004 he was Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (later the

Independent Police Complaints Commission The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales. On 8 January 2018, th ...

). Between 2004 and 2007 he was Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. In 2006 he became Chairman of

ICSTIS The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), known as PhonepayPlus until 1 November 2016, is the regulatory body for all premium rate phone-paid services in the United Kingdom. These are the content, goods and services that consumers can buy by ch ...

(later PhonepayPlus), a regulatory body for premium rate phone-paid services. Graham criticised

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...

appointing Suella Braverman as

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...

in 2022, Graham said “Normally the prime minister would have consulted a ministerial adviser for advice. A breach of the ministerial code is seen as a serious matter and would make any minister an inappropriate appointment to one of the four most senior positions in government.”Outcry over Suella Braverman’s return as home secretary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

References

External links

Committee on Standards in Public Life
1942 births Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Living people General Secretaries of the Civil and Public Services Association Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub