The Commissioner provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Governance Code and with the Principles of Public Appointments: ministerial responsibility, selflessness, integrity, merit, openness, diversity, assurance and fairness. The Commissioner’s functions are set out in the Public Appointments Order in Council.
Fiona Cannon OBE was appointed as the seventh Commissioner for Public Appointments in July 2026.
Her executive career has been spent in senior leadership roles across the financial services sector. She is currently the Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at Yorkshire Building Society and was previously the Sustainable Business Director at Lloyds Banking Group.
Fiona is also Chair of the charity, Surviving Economic Abuse, and a Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
She has served on the steering group of the FTSE Women Leaders Review and has previously been a Non-Executive Director of the UK Government Equalities Office and Deputy Chair of the UK Equal Opportunities Commission. She was appointed an OBE for services to equal opportunities in 2011.