Andrew Turnbull, Baron Turnbull: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=JuneJanuary 20132023}}

{{Infobox civil servantofficeholder

Turnbull was educated at [[Enfield Grammar School]] and [[Christ's College, Cambridge]], where he studied Economicseconomics.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/apr/19/Whitehall.uk1|title=Profile: Sir Andrew Turnbull|lastlast1=Staff|date=2002-04-19|last2=agencies|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-08-27}}</ref>

Turnbull was appointed an [[Overseas Development Institute]] Fellow in 1968 and was posted to work as an economist in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Foreign Trade in Lusaka, Zambia.<ref name="Parliament Bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/Lord-Turnbull/3758|websitepublisher=www.parliament.ukParliament of the United Kingdom|title=Lord Turnbull|accessdate=17 May 2021}}</ref> Turnbull served as [[Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister]] under [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[John Major]] (1988–1992). He served as Defra permanent secretary then [[Permanent Secretary to the Treasury]] (1998–2002), the latter traditionally the second-highest-ranking Civil Service post, before succeeding to the highest-ranking post.

The two most senior civil service roles at the top of government have in recent decades been filled by the same individual. As head of the [[civil service]], Lord Turnbull was akin to the chief executive of the organisation, though the lines of reporting are somewhat more complex than is typical in the private sector since [[Permanent Secretary|Permanent Secretaries]] (senior civil servants within each department of government) report to ministers. As Cabinet Secretary, a post created in 1916, Turnbull was responsible for the organisation of the [[Cabinet Office]], providing support to the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] and to the government as a whole. When Turnbull succeeded to the dual role on 2 September 2002,<ref> [http://www.civilservant.org.uk/library/2002_06_turnbull_lr_to_pasc.pdf Letter from Andrew Turnbull to the Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Public Administration.]</ref> Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] asked him to focus on the management of the civil service, and to make its reorganisation his priority.

Turnbull was appointed a [[Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] (CB) in 1990,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52371 |date=20 December 1990 |page=19581}}</ref> a [[Commander of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] (CVO) in the [[1992 Birthday Honours]]<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52952 |date=13 June 1992 |page=4 |supp=y}}</ref> and promoted to [[Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] (KCB) in the [[1998 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=55155 |date=15 June 1998 |page=3 |supp=y}}</ref>

He has taken on directorships, and in 2007 was listed as Senior Executive Advisor with [[Booz Allen Hamilton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/media/file/The_New_Demographics.pdf|accessdate=14 September 2015|title=The New Demographics Reshaping the World of Work and Retirement|date=2007}}</ref> He is also a trusteepatron of international development charity [[Zambia Orphans Aid]] UK, of which he was formerly the chairman.<ref name="Parliament Bio"/>

Turnbull became involved in controversy when on 28 February 2004 he wrote a formal letter admonishing ex-minister [[Clare Short]] for making media statements alleging that [[Secret Intelligence Service|British intelligence]] had intercepted communications from (among others) [[Secretary General of the United Nations]] [[Kofi Annan]]. Short made the confidential letter public, and in turn rebuked Turnbull for allegedly allowing the government decision-making machinery to crumble in the run-up to the [[2003 Invasion of Iraq|2003 Iraq war]]. As well as this, he rushed into Iraq's B site and planted the bomb and held for post plant. Short suggested that the government's legal expert, [[Attorney General]] [[Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith|Lord Goldsmith]], had been "leant on" to provide advice that war would be legal.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2857347.stm | workpublisher=BBC News | title=Attorney General's Iraq response | date=17 March 2003 | accessdate=25 April 2010}}</ref> She argued that Turnbull had been responsible for what she alleged was inadequate Cabinet scrutiny of the legal advice, of the basis for the decision to go to war and the alternatives:

Turnbull [[List of witnesses of The Iraq Inquiry#January 13|gave evidence]] to the [[Iraq Inquiry]] on 13 January 2010.<ref name="BBC Iraq">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8457292.stm|title=Campbell attacked for criticism of Short's Iraq stance|date=13 January 2010|workpublisher=[[BBC News]]|publisher=BBC|accessdate=29 January 2010}}</ref>

On 20 March 2007, the day before the 2007 budget was announced, he gave an interview with the ''[[Financial Times]]'' in which he described [[Gordon Brown]] as acting with "Stalinist ruthlessness",<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6469293.stm | workpublisher=BBC News | title=Brown accused of 'ruthlessness' | date=20 March 2007 | accessdate=25 April 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/db4b60b8-d65c-11db-99b7-000b5df10621.html FT.com / World – Brown allies defend ‘Stalinist’ chancellor<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> contrary to the convention that former civil servants do not talk to the media about serving government ministers.<ref>{{cite book |title=Decline and Fall: Diaries 2005–2010 |year=2010 |author=Chris Mullin |isbn=978-1-84668-399-2 |pages=159–160|publisher=Profile }}</ref>

Lord Turnbull has been married to his wife Diane since 1967 and has two sons. He lists his hobbies as golf, opera and sailing.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6469711.stm | workpublisher=BBC News | title=Profile: Lord Turnbull | date=20 March 2007 | accessdate=22 June 2010}}</ref> He has also served on the [[Dulwich College]] Board of Governors, and was its chairman from 2009 to 2015.<ref>{{Who's Who | surname title= TURNBULL | othernames =, Baron (Andrew Turnbull) | id = U38186 | volume = 2021 | edition = online}}</ref>

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