Professor Brian Bell appointed chair of the MAC

Home Secretary Priti Patel has today (23 June 2020) welcomed the appointment of Professor Brian Bell as the new chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). The MAC is an independent non-departmental public body sponsored by the Home Office that advises the government on migration issues. Professor Bell was appointed interim chair of the MAC on 17 March 2020 and has been a member since 6 February 2018. He is a Professor of Economics at King’s Business School within King’s College London and has previously worked at both the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England.

Professor Bell will start his new role on 1 July 2020 and has been appointed on a 3 year term following a rigorous recruitment process in line with the Governance Code on public appointments, regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. His appointment follows the expiry of Professor Manning’s tenure as chair of the MAC.

About Professor Brian Bell

Professor Bell has been a member of the MAC since 6 February 2018.  He joined King's College London as a Senior Lecturer in Economics in January 2017, and was previously Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Oxford and Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. He has spent much of his career outside of academia, working as an economist and proprietary trader hedge funds and investment banks in London. He has also spent time at the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England.

In addition to his interest in migration Professor Bell also works on issues related to wages and inequality and on crime.