Ed Whiting OBE

Ed was born and grew up in Leeds and started as Leeds City Council’s Chief Executive in January 2025. Ed has spent most of his career working in a number of central Civil Service Departments, including in the Financial Stability Unit of HM Treasury through the 2008-09 financial crisis and as Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister between 2014 and 2016. Most recently, Ed was Director for Cities and Local Growth, leading a joint unit shared between the Business and Communities Departments working on the Government’s local economic growth priorities. 

Between 2016 and 2022, Ed was Director of Strategy at the Welcome Trust, where he led the creation of a new strategy to solve the urgent health challenges of infectious disease, mental health and the impact of climate change on health. He developed new global policy and strategic partnerships functions and sponsored Welcome’s new mental health research and equity, diversity and inclusion programmes.