Sir Simon Burton (1983)

After Merton, I spent my career working in the House of Lords. I held a number of positions in committees and legislation, together with a period on secondment to the Cabinet Office as Private Secretary to the Leader of the Lords and the Government Chief Whip. I held senior Lords positions in legislation, procedural services, HR, business planning and strategy, and in ICT including cyber security. After a period as Clerk Assistant (deputy CEO) I was appointed Clerk of the Parliaments and CEO in April 2021 for a five year term. The Clerk is chief procedural and constitutional adviser to the House; Accounting Officer for a budget of c£200m; employer of around 630 staff; and Corporate Officer responsible for, among other things, governance, health and safety, records and works of art. I had statutory responsibility for the restoration of the Palace of Westminster (with my Commons colleague). I have been chair of a school governing body and a Member of a Multi Academy Trust, as well as a founding Trustee of the Herne Hill Velodrome, the last remaining venue from the 1948 London Olympics still in use. Since retirement, I have been appointed a Corporation Governor for the North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT) and taken on various speaking and mentoring roles including with the Whitehall and Industry Group (WIG). I have an MBA from Ashridge Business School and was appointed KCB in the Birthday Honours 2026 in recognition of my parliamentary and community work.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sir-simon-burton-kcb-mba-13139816/