Dr Madeleine Sumption appointed Interim Chair of Migration Advisory Committee
Summary
The UK Home Secretary has appointed Dr Madeleine Sumption as Interim Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) without competition, following the departure of Professor Brian Bell. Dr Sumption, who has served as a MAC committee member since 2016 and assumed the deputy chair role on 1 January 2025, will serve as Interim Chair for up to 6 months while an open recruitment process identifies a permanent chair.
What changed
The Home Secretary has appointed Dr Madeleine Sumption as Interim Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, effective 12 March 2026. Dr Sumption, who previously served as deputy chair and brings experience as Director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, will hold the position for up to 6 months during an ongoing recruitment process for a permanent chair.
Affected parties should note this is an administrative appointment announcement with no compliance obligations or regulatory changes. Organisations engaging with the MAC on immigration policy matters should be aware of the leadership transition but no immediate action is required.
What to do next
- Monitor for updates on permanent chair recruitment
Archived snapshot
Apr 16, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
News story
Home Secretary appoints interim chair
Home Secretary appoints Interim Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, Dr Madeleine Sumption.
From: Migration Advisory Committee Published 12 March 2026
Dr Madeleine Sumption has been appointed without competition, by the Home Secretary, as Interim Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). Dr Sumption’s appointment has been made following the departure of Professor Brian Bell from the MAC and will be for a period of up to 6 months. Dr Sumption has served as a committee member of the MAC since 2016 and assumed the role of deputy chair on 1 January 2025.
Dr Sumption is also the Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, which provides impartial analysis of migration in the UK for public and policy audiences. Her research focuses on labour migration and the economic and social impacts of migration policies. Before joining the Migration Observatory, she was Director of Research for the international program at the Migration Policy Institute, in Washington, DC. She is currently chair of the Migration Statistics User Forum, which brings together producers and users of migration data in the UK. In 2017, she received an MBE for services to social science.
An open and fair recruitment process has commenced to appoint a permanent Chair of the MAC and will be conducted in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
Share this page
The following links open in a new tab
Related changes
Get daily alerts for Uk Migration Advisory Committee
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Source
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from MAC.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when Uk Migration Advisory Committee publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.