The National Statistician is the Chief Executive of the

UK Statistics Authority The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA, ) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for oversight of the Office for National Statistics, maintaining a national code of practice for official statist ...

, and the Head of the UK Government Statistical Service. The office was created by the

Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (c18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). It came into force in April 2008. Sir Michael Scholar was appointed as the first Chai ...

. Following the retirement of John Pullinger, Sir Ian Diamond was announced as the new National Statistician in October 2019.Appointment of the National Statistican
Official announcement 6-Aug-19 In May 2025, Diamond announced he would be leaving his post in May 2025 due to "ongoing health concerns", although media reports speculated his decision was also driven by criticism of the quality and reliability of ONS data. As of May 2025, the position is held temporarily by Emma Rourke, deputy national statistician for health, population and methods.

Status

They are '' de facto'' permanent secretaries but do not use that title. As the ONS incorporated the OPCS, the Director also became the

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital record ...

for England and Wales. Following the implementation of the

, the

General Register Office General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The GRO is the government agency r ...

continues to be part of a ministerially accountable department, becoming a part of the Identity & Passport Service in the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

and the post of Registrar-General is now held by its head.

National Statisticians

* The first Director of ONS was Tim Holt. Subsequent Directors have had this additional title, the National Statistician. * The second Director was

Len Cook Leonard Warren Cook CBE CRSNZ (born 13 April 1949) is a professional statistician who was Government Statistician of New Zealand from 1992 to 2000, and National Statistician and Director of the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics, an ...

, who had previously held a similar post in New Zealand. * He was succeeded by Dame Karen Dunnell on 1 September 2005. * Jil Matheson succeeded Karen Dunnell on 1 September 2009.Appointment of the National Statistician
Official announcement 6-Aug-09 * John Pullinger succeeded Jil Matheson on 1 July 2014 and retired in June 2019. * Ian Diamond succeeded John Pullinger on 22 October 2019; he was re-appointed for a second, five-year, term from April 2023, but left in May 2025. * As of May 2025, the position is held temporarily by Emma Rourke.

References

{{reflist

External links

UK Statistics Authority's National Statistician homepage
Civil servants in the Office for National Statistics