She added: “My sincere thanks to Kevin Cunnington for all that he's done for us over the last three years. Great luck in the new role. No honeymoon period for me. Too much to do and excited about doing it during my time as DG.”

The new DG (pictured right) first joined GDS two years ago, when she was appointed as chief operating officer. In April 2018 she was moved into a role leading the organisation’s Brexit-related programmes, reflecting GDS’s growing workload in helping government prepare for the UK’s impending exit from the European Union.

Pritchard first became a civil servant in 1987 and, in the 30-plus years since then, has worked for a range of Whitehall departments, including the Ministry of Defence, HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, and the Home Office.

Prior to joining GDS, she worked at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where she held the position of director of transformational change.