Sir John Alistair Graham (born 6 August 1942) is a British trade unionist who was Chairman of the

Committee on Standards in Public Life The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government, established by John Major in 1994 to advise the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister on ethical standard ...

from 2003 until April 2007. He was born in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

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

Open University The Open University (OU) is a 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 undergraduate ...

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 Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to the Parades Commission for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. 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 (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, 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 (now renamed The Work Foundation) between 1986 and 1991, after which he became Chief Executive of Calderdale and

Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...

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 Parades Commission for Northern Ireland (1997–2000). Between 2000 and 2004 he was Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (later the Independent Police Complaints Commission). Between 2004 and 2007 he was Chairman of the

. In 2006 he became Chairman of ICSTIS (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 served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

appointing Suella Braverman as

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

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