Purnell and Pearce to take up top IPPR roles
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has announced that Nick Pearce is returning to the left-leaning think-tank’s directorship and former Labour minister James Purnell is its new chair.
Pearce returns to the director job after three years at Number 10, where he was head of its Policy Unit. He starts on 6 September and replaces former job-sharing co-directors Carey Oppenheim and Lisa Harker. The former is retraining to be a secondary school teacher.
Pearce said: “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink and renew progressive ideas in this country, and it is my ambition that the IPPR will be at the heart of that process: unashamedly reformist, open and pluralist, but always grounded in strong values and rigorous research.”
Purnell is taking over next month from John Makinson, the chairman and CEO of Penguin, who has been the IPPR’s chair since 2007. Purnell said: “I am thrilled to be taking on the role of chair at the IPPR, an organisation I know well and once worked for. The IPPR has always been at the heart of the debate about progressive politics in Britain, and has a vital role to play in the new political landscape.”
He added: “Following election defeat, Labour is choosing a new leader and starting the process of coming up with new policies. The IPPR will be central to the debates about how the centre-left rebuilds and becomes a stronger force for change. At the same time, the new coalition government has made much of its commitment to progressive ideas. The IPPR has good relations with the new administration and we continue to aim to develop ideas that are adopted as policy, in Westminster and beyond.”
Purnell resigned from government in June last year, criticising the leadership of Gordon Brown. He announced he would be standing down as an MP in February.
IPPR’s director of strategic comms is Tim Finch and Nyta Mann is media manager. The latter joined in June.
29th July 2010 by PAN staff
