James Bowler (civil servant)

Senior British civil servant

James BowlerCB


Permanent Secretary to the Treasury
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 October 2022
Chancellor	Kwasi Kwarteng Jeremy Hunt Rachel Reeves
Preceded by	Sir Tom Scholar
Department for International Trade Second Permanent Secretary
In office August 2021 – October 2022
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson Liz Truss
Cabinet Office Second Permanent Secretary
In office 9 October 2020 – 24 May 2021
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Sue Gray
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
In office 11 May 2010 – 5 December 2011
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Jeremy Heywood
Succeeded by	Chris Martin
Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 2005–2007
Chancellor	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Mark Bowman
Succeeded by	Dan Rosenfield

Personal details
Born	July 1973 (age 51)
Alma mater	Cardiff University

James Edward Bowler CB (born July 1973) is a senior British civil servant currently serving as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022 having previously served as permanent secretary at the Department for International Trade since 2021. Before assuming this role, Bowler was the second permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office from 2020 to 2021 where he led the COVID Taskforce for the British Government. He was the Director General for Policy, Communication and Analysis at the Ministry of Justice from March to October 2020. Bowler is currently Trustee of the charity Police Now.

Education

From 1986 until 1991, Bowler was educated at Abingdon School, an all-boys independent school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He then attended Cardiff University where he studied Economics.

Career

Prior to March 2020 Bowler worked at Her Majesty's Treasury for eight years, serving the positions of Director General for Public Spending between May 2017 and March 2020, Director General for Tax and Welfare between April 2015 and May 2017 and Director for Strategy, Planning and Budget between January 2012 to April 2015. Bowler was promoted to Director General in April 2015.

In May 2010 when David Cameron became Prime Minister, Bowler was appointed to the post of Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister serving until December 2011.

Bowler has also served under Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer having been appointed as his Principal Private Secretary between 2005 and 2007. Bowler continued to work closely with Brown during his premiership as Prime Minister.

He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2012 New Year Honours.

In May 2021, it was announced that Bowler would become the new Permanent Secretary to the Department for International Trade.

In October 2022, Bowler was appointed as the new Permanent Secretary to the Treasury.

Following Rishi Sunak's claim during the 2024 general election that Labour's plans would mean £2,000 of tax rises per household. Bowler said the Conservatives' assessment of Labour's tax plans "should not be presented as having been produced by the civil service". Bowler said the calculation of £38bn of uncosted spending used by the Tories "includes costs beyond those provided by the civil service".

References

"James Edward BOWLER". Companies House. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
^ "James Bowler Government Profile". Gov.uk. UK Government. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
Casalicchio, Emilio (9 October 2020). "POLITICO London Playbook: COVID war room — Face of the government — Hagues and pains". Politico. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
"James Bowler CSaP Profile". Centre for Science and Policy. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
^ Smith, Beckie (9 October 2020). "Former Treasury spending DG appointed Cabinet Office second perm sec". Civil Service World. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
"Entrants to Higher Education" (PDF). Abingdon School. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
"A Short Guide to HM Treasury" (PDF). Major programmes and developments – Page 13. National Audit Office. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
"Appointment of new Director General, Tax and Welfare, HM Treasury". HM Treasury. WiredGov. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
"HM Treasury Organisation Chart – October 2012" (PDF). HM Treasury. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
"Cabinet Office Structure Charts" (PDF). Prime Minister's Office Chart – Page 7. Cabinet Office. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
"Senior Staff Salaries in CSV Format". Cabinet Office Transparency Data. UK Government. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
Webster, Philip (26 December 2005). "Top Blairites set for a place at Brown's table". The Times. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
Brown, Gordon (1 September 2011). Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalisation. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0857202888.
"No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 2.
"New Permanent Secretary to the Department for International Trade". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
"New Permanent Secretary Treasury Team Announced". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
Top official's letter casts doubt on Tory tax claim
Treasury letter on Tory tax claim in full

Positions held

Government offices
New title	Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer 2005–2007	Succeeded byDan Rosenfield
Preceded byJeremy Heywood	Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister 2010–2011	Succeeded byChris Martin
Preceded byMark Bowman	HM Treasury Director for Strategy, Planning and Budget 2012–2015	Succeeded byClare Lombardelli
Preceded byJeremy Heywood	HM Treasury Director General for Tax and Welfare 2015–2017	Succeeded byBeth Russell
Preceded byMark Bowman	HM Treasury Director General for Public Spending 2017–2020	Succeeded byCat Little
Preceded byJulian Kelly	Ministry of Justice Director General for Policy, Communication and Analysis 2020	Succeeded byTBC
Preceded byMark Sweeney	Cabinet Office Second Permanent Secretary 2020–2021	Succeeded bySue Gray
Preceded bySir Tom Scholar	Permanent Secretary to the Treasury 2022–	Succeeded byIncumbent

v t e Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
Benjamin Disraeli	Montagu Corry (1868; 1874–1880) Charles William Fremantle (1868)
William Gladstone	(Sir) Algernon West (1868–1872; 1892–1894) Arthur Godley (1880–1882) Edward Walter Hamilton (1882–1885)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil	The Marquess of Granby (1885–1888) Schomberg Kerr McDonnell (1888–1892; 1895–1902)
Archibald Primrose	George Murray (1894–1895)
Arthur Balfour	John Satterfield Sandars (1902–1905)
Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Arthur Ponsonby (1905–1908)
H. H. Asquith	Vaughan Nash (1908–1911) Maurice Bonham-Carter (1911–1916)
David Lloyd George	Sir John T. Davies (1916–1922) Sir Edward Grigg (1921–1922)
Bonar Law	Sir Patrick Gower (1922–1923) Sir Ronald Waterhouse (1922–1923)
Stanley Baldwin	Sir Patrick Gower (1923–1928) Sir Ronald Waterhouse (1923–1928) Robert Vansittart (1928–1929) Harold Vincent (1935–1936) Osmund Cleverly (1935–1937)
Ramsay MacDonald	Sir Patrick Gower (1924) Sir Ronald Waterhouse (1924) Robert Vansittart (1929–1930) Sir Patrick Duff (1930–1933) Alan Barlow (1933–1934) Harold Vincent (1934–1935)
Neville Chamberlain	Osmund Cleverly (1937–1939) Arthur Rucker (1939–1940)
Winston Churchill	Eric Seal (1940–1941) John Martin (1941–1945) Leslie Rowan (1945) Jock Colville (1951–1955) David Pitblado (1951–1955)
Clement Attlee	Leslie Rowan (1945–1947) Laurence Helsby (1947–1950) Denis Rickett (1950–1951) David Pitblado (1951)
Anthony Eden	David Pitblado (1955–1956) Frederick Bishop (1956–1957)
Harold Macmillan	Frederick Bishop (1957–1959) Timothy Bligh (1959–1963)
Alec Douglas-Home	Timothy Bligh (1963–1964)
Harold Wilson	Derek Mitchell (1964–1966) Michael Halls (1966–1970) Alexander Isserlis (1970) Robert Armstrong (1974–1975) Kenneth Stowe (1975–1976)
Edward Heath	Alexander Isserlis (1970) Robert Armstrong (1970–1974)
James Callaghan	Kenneth Stowe (1976–1979)
Margaret Thatcher	Kenneth Stowe (1979) Clive Whitmore (1979–1982) Robin Butler (1982–1985) Nigel Wicks (1985–1988) Andrew Turnbull (1988–1990)
John Major	Andrew Turnbull (1990–1992) Alex Allan (1992–1997)
Tony Blair	Alex Allan (1997) Sir John Holmes (1997–1999) Jeremy Heywood (1999–2003) Ivan Rogers (2003–2006) Olly Robbins (2006–2007)
Gordon Brown	Olly Robbins (2007) Tom Scholar (2007–2008) Sir Jeremy Heywood (2008–2010)
David Cameron	James Bowler (2010–2011) Chris Martin (2011–2015) Simon Case (2015–2016)
Theresa May	Simon Case (2016–2017) Peter Hill (2017–2019)
Boris Johnson	Peter Hill (2019) Martin Reynolds (2019–2022) Peter Wilson (2022)
Liz Truss	Nick Catsaras (2022)
Rishi Sunak Keir Starmer	Elizabeth Perelman (2022–)

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Categories:

Education

Career

See also

References

Positions held