about us
Our governance
The views and priorities of FDA members guide everything we do as a union, and the FDA’s Executive Committee (EC) plays a vital role in this.
Meet the FDA Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is elected though a series of constituencies, ensuring that it remains representative of the breadth of the union’s membership. Its elected members bring a wealth of public service experience to the running of the FDA, and make sure that decisions taken at the FDA’s Annual Delegate Conference (ADC) are put into action.
The EC also looks after the union’s affairs between conferences, and holds meetings with the General Secretary and other full-time FDA staff at least six times a year. Elections for Executive Committee positions are held every other year before the Annual Delegate Conference and successful nominees are appointed for two-year terms.
Leila Kelly
President
Leila was elected President in 2026, having previously served as Vice President. She joined the FDA in 2010, shortly after joining the Department for Communities and Local Government as a Legal Trainee, and is now a Senior Lawyer in the Government Legal Department. Leila served on the FDA’s branch committees in BEIS and GLD, and was the convener of the GLD Branch for several years. Leila firmly believes that public services – and those who deliver them – matter and is proud to represent FDA members and to have a role in delivering the best outcomes for them.
Beatriz Brown
Vice President
Beatriz is a Policy Lead on Strategic Litigation at the Ministry of Justice, leading a team on Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation and a new project on climate litigation and economic growth. She joined the Civil Service in 2021, prior to which she worked as a Judicial Assistant at the International Criminal Court and as an employment and equality law adviser during the pandemic. She is a current Cambridge Policy Fellow, researching how climate litigation will affect state and industry behaviour.
Beatriz is a graduate of the FDA’s first Development Scheme cohort and has served on the Executive Committee since 2022. She has chaired Women into Leadership conferences for the union and is an active rep at the Ministry of Justice, where she has also been Branch Organiser. She is delighted to have been voted Vice President, where she will focus on union strategy and challenges facing civil servants including AI and climate change.
John McCullagh
Treasurer
John is a Policy Adviser in the Ministry of Defence. He first joined the FDA Executive Committee in 2009 and became Honorary Treasurer for a first term in 2014, which ended in May 2018. Rejoining the Committee in July 2019, John was honoured to return as Treasurer in October 2023. In addition to his Executive Committee work, John has been the MOD Branch Convenor for over a decade. John’s main aim as Treasurer is to ensure the continued financial viability of the FDA while minimising the burden on our hard-pressed members.
The Vice Presidents and Treasurer for 2026-2028 will be voted upon at the first meeting of the new Executive Committee in mid June.
Administrators, Economists and Accountants
Beatriz Brown
Margaret Haig
Sarah Kissack
Laura Marquis
John McCullagh
Simon Percelay
Josh Smith
Philip Smith
Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC)
Laurence Hutton
Tom Langrish
Cleo Lunt
Jim Rogers
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
Ian Kolvin
Joshua Sanderson
Culture
Vacant
Devolved Wales
Katie Antippas
Association of Development and Diplomacy (ADD)
Nick Leake
Matthew Lownds
Education Scotland
Simon Ross
Fast Stream
Natasha Bloomfield
Keystone
Andrea Anderson
Matthew Fothergill
Elizabeth Hunter
Sandra Wilson
Lawyers’ Network
Clare Dodd
Leila Kelly
Managers in Partnership (MiP)
Simon Brake
Northern Ireland Section
Robbie Davis
Ofsted
Joy Howick
Procurator Fiscal Society
Fiona Eadie
Statisticians
Timothy Knight
Scottish Government and Associated Bodies
Emma Kinloch
Get involved by becoming a rep, joining a network or developing your professional career
We encourage all of our members to become active in their workplace and every effort, however large or small, helps to strengthen the FDA’s position in giving you a voice at work.