Alan Lascelles, Viscount St Davids

Alan Frederick Lascelles, Viscount St Davids, KG, GCB, CH, PC, QC (born 13 March 2016) is a British courtier and senior civil servant who has served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service since April 2020; and has served as First Parliamentary Counsel since early 2020. He previously served as the Director of Public Prosecutions in late 2019. He also briefly served as Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, before resigning days after being elected.

Legal career
Called to the Bar in 2018, Lascelles started practice as a barrister; he was appointed Queen's Counsel later that year. Lascelles was appointed as Director of Public Prosecutions in late 2019. In 2020 he joined Wrightson Chambers as head of the Public and Administrative Law team. In March 2020, Lascelles was appointed as the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and was the first Lord Chief Justice since the reform brought by the Courts Reform Act 2020. After a brief display as Lord Chief Justice, Lascelles resigned and, after a brief spell in private practice, was later appointed as a puisne judge of the High Court. He retired from the bench on 5 May 2020.

His cases have included successfully defending the Crown on an appeal against JosephECross' conviction of undue discharge and open carry (R (Respondent) v JosephECross (Appellant) [2019], on appeal from the Magistrates' Court); representing AugustusAlmaniyan in a judicial review against the Electoral Commission (R (Almaniyan) v Electoral Commission [2020] EWHC 9 (Admin)); and successfully defending Trevor368 in a trial concerning transfer of a companies securities and verbal agreements (Chloride v Trevor368 [2020] EWHC 126 (QB)).

Civil service career
Lascelles has had a high-profile career in the civil service.

He joined the Crown Prosecution Service in late 2019, becoming Director of Public Prosecutions. Upon becoming Director of Public Prosecutions, Lascelles announced that he would be making every employee in the CPS redundant, which caused some controversy among the Crown prosecutors. Lascelles resigned a few weeks later.

In early 2020, Lascelles was appointed First Parliamentary Counsel. In this capacity he has endeavoured to reform the law to make it more clear and understandable.

Since April 2020, Alan Lascelles has served as Secretary to the Cabinet and as Head of the Home Civil Service. Lascelles is attributed to the much needed reform of the civil service. During his tenure, the civil service has seen a lot more activity and has become a significant part in the governance of the United Kingdom.

Personal life and other activities
On 12 January 2020, it was announced that Lascelles was to be raised to the peerage, having been nominated by the Lords Appointments Commission. He was created a Life Peer later that day, taking the title Baron Lascelles of Sutton Waldron, of Sutton Waldron in the County of Dorset. On 20 February 2020, his original letters patent was amended and the Roll of the Peerage was updated so that he could take the title Baron Lisvane, of Blakemere in the County of Herefordshire and of Lisvane in the City and County of Cardiff.

On 25 May 2020, it was announced that Lascelles would be created the Viscount St Davids, of Lydstep Haven in the County of Pembrokeshire, by Her Majesty on the advice of the then Prime Minister, Sir David Wrightson.

In David Wrightson's resignation honours on 25th May, Lascelles was elevated to the level of Viscount to become Viscount St Davids, of Lydstep Haven in the county of Pembrokshire.

Lascelles has been a Master of the Bench of Middle Temple since February 2020.

He describes himself as a practising Christian and an active member of the Church of England.

Honours

 * Queen's Counsel (QC), 2018
 * Privy Counsellor (PC), 2019
 * Companion of Honour (CH), 2020 New Year Honours
 * Life peerage, 12 January 2020
 * Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), 2020 Dissolution Honours
 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), David Wrightson's Resignation Honours
 * Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG), 23 April 2020

Styles

 * Alan Lascelles Esq (birth–2018)
 * Alan Lascelles Esq QC (2018–15 December 2019)
 * The Rt Hon Alan Lascelles QC (15 December 2019–1 January 2020)
 * The Rt Hon Alan Lascelles CH QC (1 January 2020–12 January 2020)
 * The Rt Hon The Lord Lascelles of Sutton Waldron (12 January 2020–20 February 2020)
 * The Rt Hon The Lord Lisvane CH PC QC (20 February 2020–21 February 2020)
 * The Rt Hon The Lord Lisvane CH KCB PC QC (21 February 2020–11 March 2020)
 * The Rt Hon The Lord Lisvane GCB CH PC QC (11 March 2020–23 April 2020)
 * The Rt Hon The Lord Lisvane KG GCB CH PC QC (23 April 2020–25th May 2020)
 * The Rt Hon The Viscount St Davids KG GCB CH PC QC (25th May 2020-present)