Stephen Parkinson (lawyer)

Stephen Lindsay Parkinson (born 15 June 1957) is an English solicitor and former barrister, who has been the Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales) (DPP) and head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since November 2023.

Early life and education
Parkinson was born on 15 June 1957 to Edward Parkinson, an Anglican priest, and Mary Parkinson, a physician. He was educated at John Hampden Grammar School, an all-boys state grammar school in Buckinghamshire, and then at The Chippenham School, a mixed-sex comprehensive school in Wiltshire. Between 1976 and 1979, he studied law at University College London, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. He then studied at the Inns of Court School of Law from 1979 to 1980.

Legal career
In 1980, Parkinson was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. He then undertook his pupillage at 3 Temple Gardens between 1980 and 1982, thereby qualifying to practice as a barrister. He then worked as a sub-editor at Butterworth Legal Publishers from 1982 to 1984. He joined the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for the first time in 1984 as a legal assistant and worked his way up to senior crown prosecutor. He was head of the CPS's International Co-operation Unit from 1991 to 1992.

Parkinson then moved into the wider civil service, and was assistant solicitor at the Department of Trade and Industry from 1992 to 1996, and head of the Company/Chancery Litigation Group at the Treasury Solicitor's Department from 1996 to 1999. From 1999 to 2003, he served as deputy legal secretary to the Law Officers (i.e. deputy head) at the Attorney General's Office.

In 2003, Parkinson moved into private practice and joined London law firm Kingsley Napley. He was admitted as a solicitor in 2005, and became a partner of the firm in the same year. He was head of the criminal litigation practice from 2006 to 2018, and subsequently became the firm's senior partner in May 2018. He retired in 2023 after 20 years with the firm.

In September 2023, it was announced that he would be the next Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service. He took up the post on 1 November 2023, succeeding Sir Max Hill. He is the first solicitor to be the DPP since the 1960s, and the first to head the CPS.