Cameron’s Advisor on EU Appointed as New Treasury Official

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Prime Minister’s most senior adviser on the European Union, Tom Scholar, has been named as the new Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury after an open competition. Mr Scholar has most recently been playing the role of Prime Minister’s adviser on European and Global Issues and he helped negotiate the UK’s deal with the EU ahead of the June 23 referendum.

Mr Scholar will be replacing Sir Nicholas Macpherson, i.e. Whitehall’s longest serving permanent secretary who signalled to step down at the start of January. Sources confirm Mr Scholar was chosen following an open competition, in which his main rival is understood to have been John Kingman, i.e. the second permanent secretary to the Treasury.

In his remarks over the decision, Chancellor George Osborne commented that “Tom is an outstanding civil servant, with experience of advising on some of the biggest challenges facing the country in recent years,” adding that “I look forward to working with him to deliver the Government’s long-term economic plan, in the face of an increasingly turbulent global economy”. Moreover, Cabinet Secretary, Jeremy Heywood also stated that “Nick will of course be a hard act to follow.  But having worked closely with Tom for nearly two decades, I am sure that he will do a brilliant job at the Treasury.” Starting his civil service career in 1992, Mr Scholar joined HM Treasury, where he worked in a number of roles covering forecasting, foreign exchange reserves and banking supervision.