Humanists UK is delighted to announce that broadcaster, actor, and writer Janet Ellis MBE will be its next President, succeeding Adam Rutherford at the start of the new year, 2026, and running through 2027.
She intends to use her presidency to help more people to navigate these increasingly tumultuous times, seeing the way through to a better, kinder world, by helping them explore their non-religious beliefs and connect to one another. She also wants to champion humanist values as an antidote to rising fear, distrust, and alienation across society.
Ellis has said she particularly wants to advocate for greater awareness of humanist weddings, funerals, and naming ceremonies, having attended many herself; and in support of Humanists UK’s campaigns opposing fully selective faith schools and in favour of a compassionate assisted dying law.
Advocate for humanist values
Humanists are non-religious people (usually atheists or agnostics) who make sense of the world through logic, reason, and evidence. Humanists believe this is the one life we have and so place human welfare and happiness at the centre of their morality, striving to live ethical and fulfilling lives based on compassion and humanity. Over five million people in the UK already call themselves humanists, while polling suggests that a third of the population live by humanist values. Many are not aware there is a name for it.
Janet became a patron of Humanists UK in 2014 and has been a high-profile advocate ever since. She has featured in NHS campaigns to promote mental health during the pandemic, appeared on BBC Radio 2’s What Makes Us Human and Radio 4’s Beyond Belief, and was interviewed as a part of Humanists UK’s podcast and book What I Believe.
Accepting the appointment, Janet Ellis said:
‘I’m delighted to be the next President of Humanists UK, an organisation that champions the very values I hold most dear: kindness, curiosity, and a celebration of our shared human experience. I have always believed that we have a singular ability to find our way to love and happiness without the need for supernatural explanation, and Humanists UK embodies that proactive, compassionate approach to life.
‘Humanism is important for me because it puts a name to the beliefs and values that so many non-religious people like me already have. It gives those values a proper place in our society and in our lives. It’s not just me saying “I think this”. In fact, I’m part of a community of like-minded people with similar ideas, approaches, and moral convictions. And we’re so much stronger when we come together.
‘I am honoured to inherit the title from Adam Rutherford and all my many illustrious predecessors. Adam has been exactly the champion that humanists need, and a true leader. I aim to follow closely in his footsteps, continuing to make the case for reason and humanity in an increasingly complex world.’
Welcoming the appointment, Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson said:
‘We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Janet Ellis as our next President. Janet is a brilliant communicator with a unique ability to connect with people, and she embodies the warmth, curiosity, and compassion at the heart of the humanist outlook. We’re thrilled that she’ll be using her talents to champion our work and advocate for a fairer, kinder society.’
Outgoing President Adam Rutherford, who like his predecessors as President will become a Vice President of Humanists UK, commented:
‘All things must pass, and my time as your President has come to an end (despite my proposal to be leader in perpetuity). It has been the honour of my life to be President of Humanists UK, especially during a time when our organisation has grown and made such progress. I am delighted that Janet Ellis is to be the next President – she is a uniquely brilliant woman, and a national treasure – a term that I am not sure she approves of. But what does it mean? Someone revered and loved by all, someone whose net contribution to public life has only been positive. She once described Blue Peter as offering “…a view of a world worth growing up in”, which sounds a lot like humanism to me. I know Janet will bring her warmth, joy, wisdom, and lots of sticky-back plastic to the role.‘
The other Vice Presidents of Humanists UK are past presidents, the anatomist and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts; writer and comedian Shaparak Khorsandi; physicist and broadcaster Professor Jim Al-Khallili, and the journalist Polly Toynbee; as well as writer and philosopher Professor A C Grayling; and sociologist and former Rationalist Association President Professor Laurie Taylor.
About Janet Ellis
Janet began her career in acting, before landing major children’s TV roles with the BBC first presenting Jigsaw and then Blue Peter from 1983 to 1987. Since then, her career has spanned television, radio, and theatre, covering diverse subjects from gardening to blood donation. In 2016, she was awarded an MBE for services to theatre and charity. She is a dedicated ambassador for Maggie’s cancer centres, Reading Force, and Marie Curie, and serves as a trustee for the National Youth Theatre.
A popular writer for newspapers and magazines and a former agony aunt, Janet published her debut novel, The Butcher’s Hook, in 2016, followed by How It Was in 2019. She is currently working on her third novel. Janet also hosts the podcast Twice Upon a Time, where guests ranging from Michael Morpurgo to Nick Mohammed and Lorraine Kelly discuss their favourite childhood books. She has three children, six grandchildren, and a dog called Angela.
Calling out to the Blue Peter generations
Janet Ellis’s appointment comes at a time when a huge slice of the population – what might be called the ‘Blue Peter generations’ – are reassessing what they believe and how they want to live. These are Millennials and Gen X, whose breadth spans from first-time parents to people who turned 60 this year.
These generations are ‘mostly non-religious’, says Ellis, unlike her older generation. In their lifetimes, this cohort has witnessed enormous social changes already. And yet many are finding as they approach major milestones in life – such as trying to get their children into a local school – that society has lagged behind in crucial ways. In 2024, the influx of younger adults into the UK Parliament led to 40% of MPs taking a secular affirmation as opposed to a religious oath – an all-time high. Many of these MPs were then shocked to discover that Parliament continued to prioritise religion even as the country has become majority non-religious, discovering systems like ‘prayer cards’ (reserving seats by attending prayers) and even having bishops in the House of Lords.
Ellis said that ‘Humanists UK’s campaigns are vitally important’ – and she wants to expand their reach. But she also sees her role as being about helping reach out to that much wider non-religious population who are still searching for meaning in their lives, even if they aren’t turning to religion or superstition to find it. Like Ellis herself some years ago, many will have struggled to articulate in positive terms what it is they do believe. Ellis intends to spearhead Humanists UK’s work to advance understanding of humanism – including through its work in schools and its campaigns on social media.
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson at press@humanists.uk or phone 0203 675 0959.
Humanists UK is making images of Janet available to the press to use, copyright, credited to Olly Hunter for Humanists UK.
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.
Historic Presidents of Humanists UK
The role of President of Humanists UK dates back to 1896, as the President of the Annual Congress of the Union of Ethical Societies. The role was re-created in its modern form in 1919, as President of the Ethical Union.
The founding President of Humanists UK (then known as the Union of Ethical Societies) was Lady Elizabeth Swann, an influential suffragist campaigner who helped to establish midwifery as a regulated profession. One of her earliest successors was J Ramsay MacDonald, who would later serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
After 1919, Presidents of Humanists UK included distinguished names such as influential classicist Gilbert Murray, Bloomsbury Group muse and philosopher G E Moore, analytic philosopher Susan Stebbing, and the antiracist philosopher Morris Ginsberg.
Presidents in the second half of the 20th century included jazz musician and author George Melly, agony aunt and broadcaster Claire Rayner, comedian and broadcaster Linda Smith, cosmologist Hermann Bondi, anthropologist Edmund Leach, and humanist philosopher A J Ayer.
About Humanists UK
At Humanists UK, we want a tolerant world where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We work to support lasting change for a better society, championing ideas for the one life we have.
We do this because we’re humanists: people who shape our own lives in the here and now, because we believe it’s the only life we get.
Our work helps people be happier and more fulfilled, and by bringing non-religious people together, we help them develop their own views and an understanding of the world around them.
Humanists UK started out in 1896 and now has more than 150,000 members and supporters and over 70 local and special interest affiliates. We’re committed to putting humanism into practice. Through our ceremonies, pastoral support, education services, and campaigning work, we advance free thinking and freedom of choice so everyone can live in a fair and equal society.
About humanism
Throughout recorded history there have been non-religious people who have believed that this life is the only life we have, that the universe is a natural phenomenon with no supernatural side, and that we can live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. They have trusted the scientific method, evidence, and reason to discover truths about the universe, and placed human welfare and happiness at the centre of their ethical decision making.
Today, people who share these beliefs and values are called humanists, and this combination of attitudes is called humanism. Many millions of people in the UK share this way of living and of looking at the world, but many of them have not heard the word ‘humanist’ and don’t realise that it describes what they believe.
It is one of the main purposes of Humanists UK is to increase public awareness of what humanism is, and to let the many millions of non-religious people in this country know that, far from being somehow deficient in their values, they have an outlook on life which is coherent and widely-shared, which has inspired some of the world’s greatest artists, writers, scientists, philosophers, and social reformers, and which has a millennia-long tradition in both the western and eastern worlds.
We also hope to give greater confidence to people whose beliefs are humanist by offering resources that can develop their knowledge of humanist approaches to some of the big ethical, philosophical, and existential questions in life.