Sir Michael Thomas Lyons (born 15 September 1949) is a British politician and former chairman of the BBC Trust (now the BBC Board). He currently serves as non-executive chairman of the English Cities Fund and chairs the board of the SQW Group. A former British Labour Party councillor and council chief executive in the United Kingdom, he was involved in some of the key central government commissions and reports into local government finance from 2000 to 2007.

Career

Michael Lyons was educated at Stratford Grammar School, London,

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

, and Queen Mary & Westfield College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Whilst completing his formal education, he worked for two years as a part-time street trader at Bell St Market, London. Lyons then worked as a lecturer in economics at Wallbrook College, London, and the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. Lyons worked in the public sector as an economist, and between 1980 and 1983 served as an elected Labour

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropo ...

. He then became Chief Executive of three significant local authorities: Wolverhampton Borough Council (1985–90);

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes the city of ...

(1990–94); and finally

(1994–2001). In 2004 he was the chaired two successful government projects: the ''Review of Public Sector Relocation'' on behalf of the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, and the ''Corporate Governance Commission'' on behalf of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

City Council. He was Deputy Chairman of the Audit Commission for two years until October 2006, including a period as acting chairman. In March 2007, he published the final report and recommendations from his three-year independent inquiry into the future role, function and funding of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. Lyons was the Head of Inlogov, the leading Local Government

Public Policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

school in the United Kingdom at

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

from 2001 to 2006, and was awarded an honorary LL.D by Birmingham University in 2009. He also holds an honorary doctorate from

. Lyons served as a governor of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

as well as a non-executive director on the boards of Mouchel, Wragge & Co Solicitors and SQW Group Ltd. A former chairman of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and former member of the boards of City Pride, Birmingham Marketing Partnership and Millennium Point Property Trust Company, he was also previously a director of

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the ITV (TV network), Independent Television franchisee in Midlands, the English Midlands ...

, until 1993. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in January 2000 for Services to Local Government. In 2022 he chaired the Independent Review of Invest Northern Ireland.

BBC chairman

On 1 May 2007, Lyons was appointed Chairman of the BBC Trust, following Michael Grade's departure to become Executive Chairman of rival broadcaster ITV. On 3 August 2007, a

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

all-party select committee criticised the appointment process, claiming government ministers had too much influence over his appointment. Lyons dismissed the allegations, pledging "absolute independence and impartiality". On 14 September 2010, Lyons announced that he would serve for only one four-year term and would not seek reappointment in May 2011. He was succeeded in May 2011 by

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes (; born 12 May 1944), is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a lif ...

Housing Commission

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conferen ...

2013, the Leader of the Opposition,

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for D ...

, launched a Housing Commission to review public policy of Housing in the United Kingdom. Sir Michael Lyons headed this commission and published the report on 16 October 2014. A summary of the initial parameters was given by Civic Voice:

Personal

Lyons is married with three children and lives in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

, Birmingham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Michael 1949 births Living people Chairmen of the BBC Trustees of the British Broadcasting Corporation Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Middlesex University Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Knights Bachelor Local government officers in England Councillors in Birmingham, West Midlands Labour Party (UK) councillors Chief officers of local government bodies in the United Kingdom