Sir Edmund Gerald Compton GCB KBE (30 July 1906 – 11 March 1994) was a civil servant and the first Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.

Compton was among the undergraduates (of whom Richard Crossman was one) invited by Fisher to socialise with the likes of Gilbert Murray, Hilaire Belloc, General Smuts and David Lloyd George.

In peacetime, Compton continued his ascent through the Treasury, being appointed in turn Third Secretary in 1949 and Comptroller and Auditor General in 1958.

He previously worked with Compton when he had been Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and described him as "one of the shrewdest, cleverest, and nicest, men in Whitehall".

Compton sought civil servants with 'enquiring minds' and the 'ability to size up cases and people rather than the ability to organise or to plan'.

[3] Compton also pioneered an investigation procedure that was to remain unchanged for thirty years and was unique among ombudsman schemes.

The procedure involved a ten part jurisdiction test of complaints, a two-stage investigation process and a final reporting stage.

The practice of publishing anonymised reports on an annual basis often long after the events described attracted criticism that this garnered too little publicity for the office.

The Select Committee on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration endorsed the findings of the report and rejected the contentions of the Foreign Office.