Members of our executive team are each responsible for different areas of our work. They provide leadership to their teams, and ensure we deliver the strategies provided by our Commission Board.

Vijay is our Chief Executive.

Vijay joined the Electoral Commission from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where he was Director General. He has worked in the role on climate, energy and the environment, global health and covid, and a wide range of countries. He served as the British Ambassador to Brazil and worked in the Ministry of Justice and Cabinet Office on electoral issues, leading the programme to establish individual electoral registration, and wider issues relating to political and constitutional reform of the UK.

Headshot of Vijay Rangarajan


 

Photo of Binnie Goh

Binnie is General Counsel and Director of Devolution, Governance and Law. She ensures that the organisation makes good decisions and manages the legal risk of the Electoral Commission.

Binnie is responsible for the legal work of the Electoral Commission, including litigation and managing our external legal resources. She oversees the electoral reform programme for Westminster, Wales and Scotland.  She supports the Board and its committees in their governance of the Electoral Commission. She is responsible for the devolved offices in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. She also oversees the Electoral Commission’s progress against its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Prior to the Electoral Commission, Binnie led on data protection legal policy, working on Brexit and Covid responses. An experienced public lawyer who trained with the Government Legal Department, she has held many roles within government departments, regulators, and the Attorney General’s Office. She has wide experience in public law; and has advised on regulation, information, competition, procurement, employment, human rights and equalities.

A carer to a disabled daughter, Binnie is a trustee of a social care charity and was previously a school governor at two special schools.

Tom is the Director of Policy and Research, leading the Commission’s work to understand and analyse the challenges to well-run elections and referendums in the UK, and developing new ideas for improving things in future. This includes our comprehensive reports on elections and referendums, our wide-ranging research programme on electoral registration and participation, and our detailed analysis of policy and legislation proposed by the UK’s governments.

Tom joined the Commission when it was established in 2001, and led the Policy Team from 2009. He has also worked on secondment in the UK Government, working with the elections policy team on modernising elections. Before joining the Commission Tom worked on electoral boundary reviews at the Local Government Commission for England.

Woman with short brown curly hair wearing a blue scarf sat speaking at an event

Jackie is Director of Electoral Administration and Regulation. She leads our work overseeing the delivery of elections and provision of guidance and support to electoral administrators in their management of elections and electoral registration. Her teams manage the registration of political parties, and the reporting, publication and compliance of party, candidate and relevant non-party campaigner finances. This includes supporting parties, candidates and campaigners to understand and comply with their obligations as well as identifying potential offences and where necessary taking enforcement action. Her remit also includes managing engagement with policing and other relevant agencies, as well as monitoring and working with others to help prevent and mitigate risks and threats to the system.

Jackie has a background in regulation, policy, funding and cultural diplomacy, and has held senior roles at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the British Council and National Lottery funding organisations.

Chris is the Director of Corporate Services and his remit includes finance, procurement, HR and payroll, and projects and planning. His team’s key responsibilities include financial management and reporting, corporate planning, pay reviews and performance management, purchases from suppliers, and overhauling the organisation’s approach to KPIs and risk management and reporting. Chris's focus at the Commission is to build a strong corporate centre and to foster relationships with the national Parliaments. His key strengths are in professional capability and building teams.

Chris has 18 years of Civil Service experience with Defra, HMRC and DBT, and worked in the private sector for PWC, Deloitte and the water industry. He is or has also been involved with the Intellectual Property Office, Innovate UK and is co-chair of the Government Finance Function Sustainable Finance Network.

Image of Niki Nixon sitting on a sofa in an office

Niki is Director of Communications, with responsibility for the Commission’s external, digital and corporate communications functions. She also oversees the Commission’s voter-facing awareness campaigns, and democratic education work, which ensure voters (and soon-to-be voters) across the UK have the information they need to vote with confidence.

Niki joined the Commission as Head of External Communications in 2018, prior to which she led multi-disciplinary communications teams in the social housing sector.