PRESS RELEASE : New EHRC commissioners appointed [December 2022]

• Minister for Women and Equalities appoints two new Commissioners to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Board
• With a track record of promoting racial equality and free expression, they each bring experience and expertise to the equality regulator
• Alasdair Henderson and Eryl Besse also named as Deputy Chairs of the Board

Kunle Olulode MBE and Arif Ahmed MBE will provide the EHRC with a diversity of skills and backgrounds to carry out its important work promoting equality and human rights across the UK.

Minister for Women and Equalities and Trade Secretary, Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, said:

“Under Baroness Falkner, the EHRC is performing a vital national service as an impartial regulator enforcing anti-discrimination legislation and defending human rights.

“These new appointments will provide the Commission with the skills and expertise it needs to make a positive impact on lives across Britain.”

The new appointments bring strong backgrounds to their new roles:

• Kunle Olulode MBE is Director of Voice4Change England, an ethnic minority charity and infrastructure support body. As a trade union activist he led the Camden Black Workers staff group from 2002-2011. He represented more than 500 Black and Asian staff members and founded its award-winning Camden Black History Forum. He is also a trustee of the English Heritage Trust and, in 2017, became one of its first black board members.
• Arif Ahmed MBE is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He writes mainly on decision theory, but also has an interest in religion. He was awarded an MBE for services to education in 2021.

Alasdair Henderson and Eryl Besse have also been appointed as Deputy Chairs of the Board. Eryl Besse was previously appointed as Wales Commissioner in April 2022 on a 4 year term. Alasdair Henderson was first appointed as a commissioner in April 2018 and will now serve as Deputy Chair until 2026.

The EHRC was reaccredited as an ‘A’ Status UN National Human Rights Institution in October 2022. The “A” status denotes “full compliance” with the Paris Principles.