People and roles
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-12)

How to create people and roles and special instructions for creating ministers.

People and roles

People and their roles are covered by 2 separate sections of Whitehall publisher. You need the person first, then you can assign a role to them by editing the role.

In publisher you can:
- create new people
- create new roles
- reassign roles to people
Add a person to GOV.UK

Select ‘People’ in the ‘More’ tab to see a list of every person featured on GOV.UK.

Check that there’s not already a page for the person using the search bar.

If there’s no existing page, select ‘Create new person’.

Add a title, forename, surname, any ‘post-nominal’ letters such as ‘MBE’, and a biography.

Upload an image. It must be 960 x 640 px and minimum 75 dpi. Photos on a white background need a light tint overlay. The image will only display on their page when an active role is assigned to them.

If you’re adding a new minister

Before you add the person, contact the Government Digital Service (GDS) (/guidance/contact-the-government-digital-service/how-to-contact-gds) to get approval.

Create a role

Select ‘Roles’ in the ‘More’ tab to see a list of every role featured on GOV.UK.

Select ‘Create new role’ to create a new role.

Add a ‘Role title’ and ‘Role type’ and complete as many of the other fields as possible.

Write a description of the role’s responsibilities. This will appear alongside the person with this role so do not repeat content.

Save the role.

If you’re adding a new ministerial role

Before you add the role:
- contact GDS (/guidance/contact-the-government-digital-service/how-to-contact-gds) to get approval
- read the guidance on adding ministerial information (/guidance/how-to-publish-on-gov-uk/people-and-roles#ministers) to find out what details you need to get approved
Assign a role to a person

Select ‘Roles’ in the ‘More’ tab to see a list of every role featured on GOV.UK.

Find the role from the list and open it for editing.

Select ‘New appointment’ to assign the role to a new person.

Enter a start date. The old role-holder will automatically be removed from the role on this date.

You must only assign a role to a person on or after the day they take up the role. The person will appear on your organisation page once you’ve assigned them to a role.

If it’s a ministerial role, contact GDS (/guidance/contact-the-government-digital-service/how-to-contact-gds) for approval before making any of these changes.

Unassign a person from a role

If the person is being replaced in the same role, they will be automatically unassigned once you assign a new person to the role.

If there’s no replacement, you need to end their appointment:
- Select ‘Roles’ in the ‘More’ tab to see a list of every role featured on GOV.UK.
- Select ‘Edit’ next to the relevant role.
- Select ‘Edit’ next to their name.
- Add the end date and select ‘Save’. The change will go live immediately.
If it’s a ministerial role, contact GDS (/guidance/contact-the-government-digital-service/how-to-contact-gds) for approval before making any of these changes.

Update the person’s biography

However the person was unassigned, make sure the biography on their people page is updated.
- Select ‘People’ in the ‘More’ tab to see a list of every person featured on GOV.UK.
- Select ‘View’ next to the relevant person.
- Select ‘Edit’ next to the ‘Details’ heading’.
- Update the ‘Biography’ section and select ‘Save’. The changes will go live immediately.
- Check the ‘Translations’ tab to see if any translations have been created. If so, either update them or delete them.
If the person is not assigned to any current roles, make sure their biography is future-proof by:
- removing any personal information
- removing links to their social media
- focussing only on what roles they held in the past
Their photo will be automatically removed from the page once they no longer have an assigned role.

Changes to role names and responsibilities

If the name of a role changes, create a new role rather than edit the existing one. Assign the person to the new role, and untag the old role from your organisation.

If a person is staying in their role but their responsibilities change, you can update the responsibilities section of the existing role.

You need to get approval if you’re updating a minister’s role name or responsibilities. Read the guidance on adding ministerial information (/guidance/how-to-publish-on-gov-uk/people-and-roles#ministers) for more details.

Interim roles

If a role is being temporarily filled (for example, to cover someone on maternity or paternity leave) you must create a new role (/guidance/how-to-publish-on-gov-uk/people-and-roles#create-a-role) for an interim position.

This should have the same name as the original role but with ‘interim’ at the beginning, for example, interim chief executive officer.

Do not change anything about the original role or assign it to anyone until it’s been permanently filled. When it has, you can also remove the person from the interim role.

If it’s a ministerial role, contact GDS (/guidance/contact-the-government-digital-service/how-to-contact-gds) for approval before making any of these changes.

Ministers and ministerial roles

There’s a different process for making changes to ministerial people and role pages. The Number 10 (Prime Minister’s Office) digital communications team is responsible for the accuracy of ministerial information on GOV.UK.

Reshuffles and changes to ministerial appointments

If there are multiple changes to ministerial appointments (for example, during a government reshuffle), GDS will contact GOV.UK leads in ministerial departments to let them know what’s happening and confirm responsibilities.

Number 10 will contact GDS to confirm details of the new appointments as they happen.

GDS will:
- create and assign the new people and role pages
- contact the affected departments to tell them when they can take over responsibility for the updated pages
If it’s a change to only one or two ministerial appointments, contact GDS (/guidance/contact-the-government-digital-service/how-to-contact-gds) to check if you can create and assign the new people and role pages yourself.

If you can make the changes yourself, ask the minister’s private office and the Number 10 digital communications team for the details you can use.

Changes to existing ministerial pages

With approval from a minister’s private office, you can update the:
- minister’s photo
- minister’s name and titles - if the minister is a peer, do not include their first name
- ‘Biography’ section of their people page
- ‘Responsibilities’ section of their role page - these changes should also be approved by Number 10
If it’s a new junior ministerial role with a generic name like ‘Minister of State’ or ‘Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State’, you can also change the role name. You must use the following role title structure:
- Minister of State (Minister for X)
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for X)
If you want to make any other changes, contact GDS (/guidance/contact-the-government-digital-service/how-to-contact-gds) for approval.

Add a translation

You need to translate both the role page and the people page separately.

Translate a role page

Select ‘Roles’ in the ‘More’ tab to see a list of every role featured on GOV.UK.

Select ‘Manage’ next to the relevant role.

Select the translation you want to add and then ‘Create new translation’.

Add the translated text and select ‘Save’.

Translate a people page

Select ‘People’ in the ‘More’ tab to see a list of every person featured on GOV.UK.

Select ‘View’ next to the relevant person.

Go to the ‘Translations’ tab, select the translation you want to add and then ‘Create new translation’.

Add the translated text and select ‘Save’.

Delete a role or a person

Never delete either a role or a person from GOV.UK.

The list of government ministers (/government/ministers) and the lists of ministers on organisation pages automatically list only the current role appointments.