Michael Pownall
{{Short description|British civil servant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sir Michael Pownall
| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|size=100%}}
| image =
| image_size =
| smallimage =
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| order =
| office = Clerk of the Parliaments
| term_start = 4 November 2007
| term_end = 15 April 2011
| predecessor = Sir Paul Hayter
| successor = Sir David Beamish
| birth_name = Michael Graham Pownall
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|10|11|df=y}}
| birth_place =
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| citizenship = United Kingdom
| nationality = British
| spouse = {{marriage|Deborah Pownall|1974|2013|end=d}}
| children = Two
| parents =
| education = Repton School
| alma_mater = University of Exeter
}}
Sir Michael Graham Pownall, {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|size=100%}} (born 11 October 1949) is a retired British public servant. From 2007 to 2011, he was Clerk of the Parliaments in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
Early life and education
Pownall was born on 11 October 1949.{{cite web |url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/p/2608/Michael%20Graham%20POWNALL.aspx |title=Sir Michael Pownall, KCB Authorised Biography – Debrett's People of Today, Sir Michael Pownall, KCB Profile |access-date=2011-01-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821060420/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/p/2608/Michael%20Graham%20POWNALL.aspx |archive-date=2012-08-21 }} Debrett's People of Today He was educated at Repton School, then an all-boys private school in Repton, Derbyshire. He studied at the University of Exeter.{{cite web|title=POWNALL, Sir Michael (Graham)|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U31311|website=Who's Who 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=30 January 2017|date=November 2016}}
Career
He became a Clerk in the House of Lords in 1971. From 1980 to 1983 he was seconded to the Cabinet Office as Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords and the Government Chief Whip, serving two Leaders, Lord Soames and Baroness Young, and one Chief Whip, Lord Denham. He was Reading Clerk from 1997 to 2003, and Clerk Assistant from 2003 to 2007. From 2007 to 2011, he was Clerk of the Parliaments in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. He retired on 15 April 2011.https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/110117-0001.htm#1101179000435 House of Lords Hansard, 17 January 2011
Personal life
In 1974, Pownall married Deborah Ann McQueen. Together they had two daughters. Deborah died in 2013.
Pownall is an Anglican Christian. He is the treasurer of St Michael and All Angels, Bedford Park, an Anglo-Catholic church in Chiswick where he lives.{{cite web|title=Parochial Church Council|url=http://www.smaaa.org.uk/wp/home/about/whoswhoatstmichaels/parochial-church-council-2016/|website=St Michael and All Angels Church, Bedford Park|access-date=30 January 2017|date=2016}}
Honours
In the 2011 Birthday Honours, Pownall was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), and therefore granted the title sir.{{London Gazette |issue=59808 |date=11 June 2011 |page=2 |supp=y }}