Healthy ambition: DPP Stephen Parkinson

‘We have a good relationship with the police and the courts. We charged people immediately where possible. We got cases to court quickly, the first one in eight days from commission. The Prime Minister was most supportive, drawing on his experience as DPP of the 2011 London riots. We deployed our own Crown Advocates on the cases, so the same prosecutor was able to handle all cases in the list and make instant decisions.’ What about his announcement that he would bring charges of riot where appropriate? ‘I believe it helped.’

Stephen Parkinson is talking about the summer 2024 riots. He is a year and a half into his term as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and head of the 7,000-strong Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Unsurprisingly for someone who has worked in senior management positions in the Civil Service and in a law firm, of which he later became senior partner, he takes a ‘whole system view’ of the CPS, the criminal Bar and the criminal justice system.

‘I want to reduce delay; to give better support to victims of crime and reduce victim attrition; to improve our performance in dealing with sexual offences; to improve our handling of our cases – we are good at making initial decisions, but we need to be better at bringing our cases home; and to foster a culture of continuous improvement.’ He is actively involved in some of the most serious casework including deaths in custody or after police contact, assisted suicide cases, or in high profile, sensitive or complex matters.

‘On all my visits to my CPS teams across the country,’ – he had visited all 14 CPS Areas within his first six months in the job – ‘I have encountered a strongly motivated workforce, making a difference for victims, helping to deliver justice, but working under great pressure with limited resource and reward. I am full of admiration for them.

‘We are enormously appreciative of the ability and commitment which the criminal Bar brings to our work. A strong criminal Bar is vital for the justice system. We rely heavily on the Bar and we always will. Our Go Prosecute initiative, launched in October 2024, is designed to support newly qualified barristers in laying the foundations of their careers through a period of work with the CPS. Initially launched as a small pilot, we are now looking to expand the programme, with the next recruitment campaign set for the autumn.

‘Later this year, we are adding a new scheme to the Go Prosecute initiative to support former barristers who have left the profession but wish to return. This scheme will provide them with the opportunity, support and guidance needed to re-establish their careers by offering roles within the CPS, either as advocates or reviewing lawyers. As part of this we are considering mentorship opportunities, further training and flexible working patterns including compressed hours and term-time working.

‘When I appeared recently before the Justice Select Committee I said we were seeking to adopt a “whole system” approach to the reduction of delay. We want to concentrate on driving up early guilty pleas. That includes encouraging defence solicitors to read the papers early and advise their client where appropriate to plead at an earlier stage. An average guilty plea takes five hearings, so let’s get it down to one. I am in favour of a change in guidelines so that the biggest discount for early guilty pleas – one-third – is available if a plea is entered at the first substantive hearing in the Crown Court [the plea and trial preparation hearing]. This will then free up more time for advocates to focus on their contested cases and free up courtrooms. It’s a virtuous circle.’

Parkinson is now in his dream job. His father was an ordained minister, his mother a doctor. They split when he was 11. ‘I was a late developer. I nearly didn’t get into the Sixth Form [of his Wiltshire comprehensive school] because of poor O level results. I made it in on the back of retakes, but my teachers didn’t then notice that things had started to change, and so based on my predictions I did not apply to university. But then my actual results turned out to be much better than expected.

‘I took a year out to apply to university. We had no history of lawyers in the family, but my younger brother was planning to read law, and that put it into my head: “Why don’t I?” But I was very unfocused at the beginning of the year. One day I found myself looking forward to the next episode of [the appropriately named soap] Crossroads. I wondered, “Has my life come to this?” I just thought, “No!”

He embarked on an enterprising gap year. How many of his 16 predecessors ever worked as a dustman? ‘I learned the “Corsham lift” – lift the bin up onto the shoulders and then into the dustcart in three easy moves.’ He worked on an old established kibbutz and then as a travelling ballpoint pen salesman in South Africa.

‘Law at UCL was practical. I much enjoyed criminal law.’ He was called in 1980. Why the Bar? ‘I would have been happy to be a solicitor or a barrister. My overall motivation was to get qualified. I had a romantic view of the life of a barrister. After I’d started, I found I enjoyed lots of it, particularly the camaraderie and the social side of criminal chambers. But not the advocacy. I was young, inexperienced and not very confident and I found out that it wasn’t for me, but I was fascinated by the way people behaved – still am – and so I was determined to continue to practise criminal law. Already during pupillage, I had decided that I wanted to work for the DPP’s office [the forerunner of the CPS], indeed that one day I’d like to be DPP. In those days, a typical announcement following a serious crime was that “the papers have been sent to the DPP”. I thought, “I want to be that person.” The office undertook all the most serious crime in the country: all murders, terrorism, official secrets, complex fraud. Having left the Bar, I had just become engaged and also needed to earn. So, I went to work for what was then Butterworths, the publishers, and applied three times from there to the old DPP’s office. I succeeded in 1984 and started in the General Division. It wasn’t an advocacy job. I never thought I’d want to be on my feet again.

‘Next year the CPS was formed. Our small office of 60 became the HQ of a large service. In order to get on you had to go to the “field”. For me, that was in Acton where I learned how to do the basic job of prosecuting, how to be an advocate, how to handle a heavy caseload.’ Promotions followed. He had charge of all prosecutions in Redbridge and then Stratford. ‘The move to Stratford was stressful. Fairly quickly, I was smoking 40 a day, up from 10.’

But a prestigious posting followed soon afterwards – to the Attorney General’s (AG’s) tiny office. ‘I would brief the AG on AG consent cases, accompany him on visits to the CPS and sit in on his regular meetings with the DPP. It was a great insight into the CPS from outside.’ Further moves and promotions followed between the CPS and elsewhere in government. ‘In 1996 I became head of Company/Chancery litigation in the Treasury Solicitor’s Office [now the GLD]. We also represented ministers and civil servants in trouble.’ His first client, a whip, was accused of leaning on a committee chair. ‘He was acquitted, which led to other work.’ Later clients, successfully represented, included a number of senior cabinet ministers. ‘I thought if I ever decided to enter private practice, this is work I’d like to do.’

Parkinson then became deputy head of the AG’s office. He was shortlisted for the job of Director of the Serious Fraud Office but was not successful. ‘I could not see how my career could progress after that rejection. I told the Attorney [Lord Goldsmith] that I intended to go into private practice. With his support, I approached Kingsley Napley and was successful: if I couldn’t be DPP I’d go to the best criminal defence firm in the country. In my last week in government, in 2003, the Hutton Inquiry was set up [into the death of Dr David Kelly]. I was asked to help. But I had just arranged a six-week holiday in Holland and I was reluctant to volunteer. While driving through Belgium, I learned with some surprise that No. 10 had requested me to act for the Prime Minister and to oversee the preparation of all the No. 10 and Cabinet Office witnesses. I turned round and headed back immediately; there was no way I could refuse.

Parkinson took the Hutton work into Kingsley Napley, and over the years acted for a series of ministers and high-profile individuals in various inquiries and trials. He requalified as a solicitor, took a partnership at the firm, headed the criminal litigation team and eventually became the firm’s senior partner in 2018, retiring in 2023. ‘I was looking forward to dog walking and running.’ But soon afterwards he was approached to apply for the upcoming DPP job. ‘The job had come up three times when I was at Kingsley Napley. I was approached each time, and each time I said no. I was happy at the firm, I was building my team, and I didn’t want to damage all that work and let people down. Each time I told my colleagues that I would not be applying. When I was approached again in 2023, somewhere along the way I had lost that driving ambition for the job. I also wondered was I now too old at 66? But then I reminded myself how much I had always wanted to do the job.

‘My ambition is more healthy now – not the personal vanity of earlier years but a desire to use my leadership and legal experience to make a difference for the CPS. Since I was last in the CPS, a lot has changed for the good. Our monitoring of our performance is sophisticated. We use our digital systems to deploy our people more quickly to where they are needed from day to day. CPS Direct is a 24/7, 365 days a year service [charging advice to the police]. We are much more joined up internally and we work more closely with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. But it’s well understood constitutionally that the casework is for us.’

I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask how he sees himself: barrister or solicitor? ‘At heart I’m a solicitor. But it doesn’t matter now. What floats my boat is working with colleagues to try to make things better.’ 

Movers and Returners: A one-day conference for those seeking guidance and support in returning to the Bar, taking a career break or moving practice area. Inner Temple, Thursday 22 May 2025 and open to members of all Inns.