Barry has worked for six London boroughs and, in the mid-1980s, was an elected member in a seventh. A former chief executive at LB Lewisham (1993 to 2017) and RB Kensington and Chelsea (2017 to 2022), Barry has been the Chair and President of Solace, the Chair of the Society of Metropolitan Chief Executives and is a lifetime member of the US-based ICMA. On leaving RBKC he completed a short course on values, ethics and political philosophy at the Blavatnik School of Government. Barry is an Associate of Inlogov, in the Department of Public Administration and Policy, at the University of Birmingham. At Lewisham, he introduced innovations in service design, democratic accountability, and public participation in budgeting. He steered the council through the first seven years of austerity, when the council’s overall budget was reduced by 34 percent in real terms. In 2017, he was invited by MHCLG and the LGA to move to RBKC in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington. For over five years, he led the council’s response and recovery arrangements in close collaboration with the many hundreds of bereaved and survivors. Barry has been an advisor to HM Treasury, MHCLG, as well as being a NED on the Board of HM Revenues & Customs. With a PhD in the geography of public policy, Barry is a regular lecturer and author on local government matters. His 2011 book Re-imagining Government met with critical academic acclaim. He has recently completed a new book — on ways to revive liberal democratic governance.