Background
Philip Mawer was born in Kingston upon Hull in 1947.
president Parliamentary Commissioner
Philip Mawer was born in Kingston upon Hull in 1947.
He was educated at Hull Grammar School and Edinburgh University where he was president of the Students Representative Council.
After graduation he joined the Civil Service, rising to become Principal Private Secretary to Douglas Hurd. He supported Lord Scarman in his investigation of the 1981 Brixton riot. Scarman later described him as "a brilliant man in handling questions of principle.
Among the major issues during his time in office was the decision to allow the ordination of women.
He was awarded a knighthood in the 2002 Queen"s Birthday Honours for his work at the Synod. Mawer was appointed as in February 2002.
During his period in office he conducted a four year enquiry into the conduct of George Galloway which ultimately led to Galloway"s suspension from the House of Commons for 18 days. In January 2008, Mawer was appointed as an "independent advisor" to Gordon Brown, investigating alleged breaches in the ministerial code of conduct.
The advisor has to wait for a case to be referred to him by the prime minister before mounting an investigation.
In May 2009, he conducted an investigation into allegations by The Daily Telegraph that Justice Minister, Shahid Malik, had paid a rent below the market rate for his home and constituency office. Malik was cleared by Mawer"s investigation and was reappointed to Gordon Brown"s government in the June 2009 reshuffle, as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government. After the 2010 election, he continued under David Cameron, although he is not known to have investigated any other ministers after the report into Malik.
He left the post at the end of 2011 and was succeeded by Sir Alex Allan.
In Summer 2009, Mawer was made Chairman of the Professional Regulation Executive Committee of the Actuarial Profession (later the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA))which he held until Summer 2013. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the IFoA in 2014.
He was appointed as a Cannon Provincial of York during the evensong service on 11 November 2015.