Director General, National Strategy

Policy Leaders Fellow alumna, Centre for Science and Policy

Lucy Smith was named Director General, National Strategy in January 2026.

Lucy Smith spent the 2024-2025 year as the third Heywood Fellow at Hertford College and the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Previously, Lucy was Director General of the Strategy and Change Group at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from December 2020 to June 2024. Before this she served in the Department for Education as Director General, COVID Response and Schools Recovery.

From 2012 to 2020, Lucy held senior roles at the Cabinet Office, first as Principal Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg during the Coalition Government, and from 2015 onwards – both as Constitution Director and then Director General of UK Governance Group – as principal adviser in government on the constitution, devolution, intergovernmental relations, elections and the democratic process. Lucy spent the early part of her career in the Department for Education in a number of roles, including Director of Strategy from 2010-2012.