Dan Corry and Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive appointed to Defra board

Both will serve a one-year term and join a group of senior figures from outside government tasked with providing independent scrutiny and challenge to the department.

Non-executive board members are drawn from a range of sectors and expected to contribute strategic oversight and expertise to support Defra’s objectives

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE

Allison Ogden-Newton has been Chief Executive of the charity Keep Britain Tidy since 2015.

She has overseen high-profile behaviour change campaigns and significantly raised the charity’s profile through frequent media appearances, including through the launch of the Great British Spring Clean, which collected over 462,000 bags of litter this year.

Beyond her work at Keep Britain Tidy, Ogden-Newton has held senior leadership roles across the charity and social enterprise sector.

These include serving as Chief Executive of World Child Cancer and Social Enterprise London, and founding The Transition Institute, a think-tank dedicated to social value.

Ogden-Newton has also contributed to government policy work, acting as an equal value advisor to the former Equal Opportunities Commission and serving on the Department of Innovation and Skills Women’s Enterprise Taskforce.

Dan Corry

Dan Corry is currently Chief Economist at the Future Governance Forum, having previously served for 13 years as Chief Executive of New Philanthropy Capital, a think tank and consultancy focused on the social sector.

He led a review of environmental regulation for Defra in April 2025, to establish whether the regulatory landscape inherited by the current government is fit for purpose.

Corry’s experience spans senior government positions, including serving as Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit and Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on the Economy between 2007 and 2010.

He has also chaired the Council of Economic Advisers in the Treasury and acted as a special adviser to ministers in several departments, among them Education, Trade and Industry, Transport, Local Government and Regions, and Communities and Local Government.