FIONA HILL AND PHILIP RYCROFT JOIN THESE ISLANDS’ ADVISORY COUNCIL
13 December 2020
These Islands is pleased to announce two new members of its Advisory Council: Fiona Hill CBE and Philip Rycroft. Both bring a wealth of experience at the heart of government.
Fiona Hill CBE owns and runs FMH Strategy, a consultancy offering strategy, policy, reputation and crisis management advice. Prior to this she was the first female Chief-of-Staff to a UK Prime Minister, working for Theresa May. She also advised May as Home Secretary and was responsible for the Modern Slavery Act and the Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill.
She is the author of A Modern Response to Modern Slavery, a report published while she was Associate Director of the Think Tank The Centre for Social Justice. The report has been used by policy makers all over the world as an evidence base in combatting human trafficking. Before entering political life, Fiona was a journalist working in broadcast media as News Editor for Sky News, and in print media as a writer for the Scotsman Newspaper and the Daily Record.
On joining These Islands’ Advisory Council, Fiona said:
“These Islands has shown how to hold the SNP Government to account by exposing its shortcomings through evidence and facts of the kind that, however hard they try, the SNP can’t escape or deny. The research and analysis produced by These Islands puts populist politics in the dock. It is because of this straightforwardly honest and intelligent approach that I feel extremely energised by getting involved.”
Philip Rycroft worked in the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) between March 2017 and March 2019, from October 2017 as Permanent Secretary. He was responsible for leading the department in all its work on the Government’s preparations for Brexit. From June 2015 to March 2019 he was head of the UK Governance Group in the Cabinet Office, with responsibility for advising ministers on all aspects of the constitution and devolution. From May 2012 to May 2015, he was the Director General in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
Through his career, Philip worked in a variety of roles, in the civil service in Scotland and London, in the European Commission, and in business. He is now an academic with Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities, non-executive director and independent consultant.
On joining These Islands’ Advisory Council, Philip said:
“These Islands have done hugely impressive work to inform thinking about the future of the UK Union. I'm very pleased to have been asked to join the Advisory Council and look forward to supporting the development of this work in the months ahead.”
Please log in to create your comment