Our Executive Team

Rob Vincent served as Chief Executive of Kirklees Council from 2004 until 2010 and was a non-executive Director of DCLG from 2008-2010. Between 2010 and 2012 Mr Vincent led the intervention into Doncaster Council, at the request of the Secretary of State.

Most recently he has acted as an adviser to the Department of Health on the transition of the public health function from the NHS to local government.

Ailsa is responsible for our guidance. This includes guidance for electoral administrators on running electoral events, as well as the guidance for candidates and agents, political parties and other organisations.

Ailsa has been at the Commission for over a decade, holding a number of different positions since starting as the Policy and Practice Officer in Scotland in 2003.

From 2010 to the end of 2016, Ailsa was Head of Guidance, leading on the Commission’s guidance, support and performance standards work. She played a key role in supporting the Commission’s previous Chair, Jenny Watson, in her role as Chief Counting Officer at the recent EU referendum.

Ailsa was appointed Director of Electoral Administration in January 2017.

Louise Edwards is our Director of Regulation and Digital Transformation.

Louise is responsible for our regulatory work and digital, data, technology and facilities infrastructure. This includes funding and spending at elections and referendums, registering political parties, our enforcement work, and data and information management.

Prior to joining the Commission, she worked for a range of regulators including the Charity Commission for England and Wales, The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Ofgem and the Home Office.

Craig oversees the work of our campaigns, external communications, policy and research teams, which includes our public awareness campaigns right through to our recommendations for policy change.

Craig joined the Electoral Commission in August 2016.

Between February 2013 and July 2016, Craig was a Partner at the corporate communications agency Pagefield, leading corporate affairs accounts for clients ranging from major multi-national brands to small charities. These included AB InBev, Kellogg’s and HS1 Ltd, the British Library, the Fundraising Regulator and the Roddick Foundation.

He spent the preceding 10 years in the Civil Service, in a series of policy roles in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health, concluding with three years as Private Secretary to the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries. Before joining the Civil Service, Craig worked in corporate press offices including at Fourth Estate publishers and at the British Library.

Craig is a trustee of the arts charity Poet in the City, which creates new audiences for poetry through a programme of events, commissions and education work.