Status[edit]

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 for England and Wales. Following the implementation of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, the General Register Office continues to be part of a ministerially accountable department, becoming a part of the Identity & Passport Service in the Home Office and the post of Registrar-General is now held by its head.

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

Tim Holt

The second Director was , who had previously held a similar post in New Zealand.

Len Cook

He was succeeded by on 1 September 2005.

Dame Karen Dunnell

succeeded Karen Dunnell on 1 September 2009.^[3]

Jil Matheson

succeeded Jil Matheson on 1 July 2014 and retired in June 2019.

John Pullinger

succeeded John Pullinger on 22 October 2019;^[2] he was re-appointed for a second, five-year, term from April 2023.

Ian Diamond

UK Statistics Authority's National Statistician homepage