Politics Speakers

Patrick Mercer, Member of Parliament for Newark since 2001, previously worked as a journalist and as a soldier with the British Army.

Patrick Mercer has a reputation as a lively and uncompromising British conservative politician, whose fascinating career experiences and robust political engagement on security and anti-terrorist issues make him a formidable, direct ‘no-nonsense’ speaker.

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After nearly a decade in Parliament and before that successful work in journalism and the British Army, Patrick Mercer invariably makes an impact both privately and as a forceful public speaker.

Patrick Mercer read History at Oxford University before following his father’s example and joining the British Army, being commissioned into the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment in 1975. He completed nine tours in Northern Ireland and commanded his battalion in Bosnia, Canada and Tidworth.

He was Mentioned in Despatches in 1983 while serving in Northern Ireland and earned a gallantry commendation in 1990 and the MBE in 1992. In 1997 he received the OBE for services in Bosnia. He left the Army in 1999 as a Colonel, having been head of communications and strategy at the Army Training & Recruiting Agency.

He then became the Defence Correspondent for the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme and worked as a freelance for the Daily Telegraph; this involved him reporting from many trouble-spots, including Kosovo and East Timor where he helped design newly independent East Timor’s first national defence policy.

In 2001 he was Member of Parliament for Newark in the English Midlands, defeating the Labour candidate in a strong personal success. After serving as a back-bencher on the Defence Select Committee he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. In 2003 he took up a senior new Opposition position as Shadow Minister for Homeland Security, a position he held until March 2007 when he resigned following a controversy over remarks made about race relations in the Armed Forces.

In 2004 Patrick Mercer introduced a Private Member’s Bill intended to give stronger legal protection to householders defending their property from burglars; this initiative received much popular support but did not proceed after the 2005 general elections.

Patrick Mercer is now known for his clear and uncompromising conservative positions on defence and intelligence issues. He supported the Iraq intervention and opposes further European Union powers, favouring a strong national UK defence effort. On domestic questions he has opposed the introduction of a national identity card scheme and favours reduced central state control of education.

Patrick Mercer now maintains a lively media profile and has written three books, including two vivid historical novels with Victorian/imperial military themes and a very well received account of the 1854 Battle of Inkerman in the Crimean War.

His novel To Do and Die was praised by Bernard Cornwell: ‘A tremendous achievement by a storyteller who knows the humour, the fear and the frenzy of men in battle.’

Patrick Mercer has firm convictions and trenchant views, drawn from his unusually varied career often spent applying policies to tough real-life military and anti-terrorist circumstances in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. He speaks fluently and with passion, including memorable and thought-provoking examples from past and present where lethal force has been used, for better or worse.

The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP is Member of Parliament for Blackburn, having previously served in successive senior Cabinet positions in Labour governments from 1997 through to 2010

Jack Straw is one of the most experienced British and European politicians. During his long career including continuous Cabinet-level roles, he has taken a leading part in many momentous political decisions in both national and international politics.

He has a reputation for clear thinking and professional, pragmatic good sense.

After a prominent radical role in national student politics in the 1960s, he qualified and worked as a barrister, did three years as an advisor to two Cabinet Ministers (Barbara Castle, and Peter Shore), and was then on Granada TV’s flagship “WORLD IN ACTION” programme. He was a London borough councillor, and Deputy Leaders of the Inner London Education Authority.

He first entered Parliament as a Labour MP representing Blackburn in 1979. He had a number of Shadow Cabinet roles before becoming Home Secretary after the Labour Party’s 1997 election victory, and then Foreign Secretary in 2001 and Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal in 2006. He served as Lord High Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2007 until 2010.

Now again in Opposition, Jack Straw continues to play a leading role in national politics, on home and foreign policy, and not least in issues involving the UK’s Muslim population (his constituency Blackburn has a sizeable Muslim community). His deft personal style combines with his immense domestic and foreign policy insight (he was closely involved in key decisions before and after the intervention in Iraq) to make him a formidable and fascinating expert speaker.

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After three decades in Parliament and successive Cabinet positions, Jack Straw is one of the most experienced and insightful British and international political figures.

Jack Straw read law at Leeds University and in the 1960s became a national student leader known for radical positions, to the point of being described by the Foreign Office as a “troublemaker acting with malice aforethought” for his political activity involving Chile. After qualifying as a barrister he had various media roles and entered Parliament in 1979 as the MP for Blackburn. He was Shadow spokesman on Education, then Environment and Shadow Home Secretary before being appointed Home Secretary after the Labour Party won the 1997 general election.

His time as Home Secretary had its fair share of controversies (including new measures to increase police powers to deal with suspected terrorists) but also saw the European Convention in Human Rights incorporated into British law.

Appointed Foreign Secretary in 2001, he soon played a leading role in the dramatic and difficult foreign policy problems arising from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and then the interventions in Afghanistan and then Iraq. He publicly defended these decisions, although later in January 2010 he told the Iraq Inquiry in London that the 2003 decision to go to war “had haunted him”. In 2006 he was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal with responsibility for parliamentary reform. He returned to the Opposition benches after Labour lost the 2010 general elections

Jack Straw has attracted publicity for some of his policy positions concerning Muslim issues, not least his call in 2006 for Muslim women not to wear the full veil: “I felt uncomfortable about talking to someone ‘face-to-face’ whom I could not see”. His close relations with his very diverse Blackburn constituency (including his position as honorary vice president of Blackburn Rovers football club) mean that he has given a lot of thought to sensitive community relations issues in a modern democracy. In 2009 on the BBC’s Question Time TV programme he was a member of the panel which included British National Party leader Nick Griffin.

Although often criticized for his firm approach to a number of civil liberties questions concerning suspected terrorists and then his high-profile role in supporting the Iraq intervention, Jack Straw remains a popular figure in the UK and Europe, not least for his wry sense of humour: as Home Secretary he joked that his large department was “full of civil servants working diligently on projects that might ruin my career”.

His disarmingly understated, professional style as well as his formidable intellect and practical experience in so many policy areas give him a unique profile, not only in the UK and European Union but also at the international level. Few active politicians today match his insight and breadth of senior policy knowledge. He has many striking personal anecdotes and thoughtful examples of what works in politics – and what does not.

Christine Ockrent is both producer and anchor of the weekly current affairs program France Europe Express on France 3 Television.

She is also president of the advisory board of METRO International France, and a columnist for various French and Swiss newspapers.

Born into a family of diplomats, Christine Ockrent is a graduate of The Institute of political Studies in Paris. She began her career as a journalist for American television when she made her career televisual “scoop” in 1979. While going to interview in prison a former Prime Minister for the Shah of Iran a few days before her execution.

Previously she was editor in chief of the weekly news magazine, L’Express, the only journalist granted an interview with Saddam Hussein in the middle of the Gulf War. As well as becoming the first woman to anchor and edit the prime time news. She has had an outstanding career in television, both as producer of documentaries and anchor of the evening news, where she shaped a style as the first woman presenter and editor.

Ms. Ockrent was also deputy director general of TF1 Television and an editor with RTL Radio. She began her career in broadcast journalism at NBC News and worked for eight years at CBS’ 60 Minutes. She has been awarded several French and international distinctions for her work in TV journalism.

She is a graduate of the Institut d’études politiques in Paris and studied at Cambridge University.

She has written eight books, one of which translated in German (“Wie Julius Caesar den Euro erfand” Rowohlt).

Christine Ockrent is also the author of eight books, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and member of the board of directors of Reporters without borders, she is married to Bernard Kouchner, a senior French Minister and founder, organizer and president of “Médecins sans Frontières” (1971-1979); and of “Médecins du Monde” (non-profit-making organization whose members, all voluntary and doctors and nurses, help in times of emergency and situations of inadequate medical care in the third world) (1980-1988).

Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP has an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of government, both as a Minister of State for Europe at the Foreign Office and as deputy Foreign Secretary.

Dr MacShane has spoken to diverse audiences from both public and private sector in the UK and abroad. He specialises in penetrating political and economic analysis laced with stories about the many senior politicians with whom he has enjoyed close working relationships.

As the MP who suggested in a changing room of the Commons to David Cameron that Mr Cameron should run for Leadership of the Conservative Party, Dr MacShane has made a small contribution to choosing the new Prime Minister.

He is one of Parliament’s most forceful speakers, known for the sharpness and wit of his interventions. He appears regularly on BBC and Sky TV and on the Today programme. His columns appears in The Times, Daily Telegraph. Observer, Independent and he writes regularly on European political affairs for Newsweek.

As a member of the Privy Council and Foreign Office minister, Dr MacShane had many dealings with the royal family which he builds into his speeches and talks with humorous insights. He specialises in CEO retreats and business conference and dinners where participants want a full and frank insight into how ministers and politicians arrive at their decisions, particularly relating to European affairs.

Dr MacShane speaks French, German and Spanish and writes regularly for European and North American papers. His latest books include a biography of Edward Heath and a study of global anti-semitism. He has four children and won an award as the fastest skier in Parliament. He has been MP for Rotherham since 1994.

Books by Rt Hon Denis MacShane include:

Buy Denis MacShane’s books here

Specific topics:

The global economy – challenges, risks, where the action is

Europe – yesterday’s dream, today’s problem

Lifting the veil on goverment – how it really works

The real controllers of power in britain

Why Labour lost and the Coalition will too

From Downing Street to buckingham place – why monarchs last and prime minister don’t

Ten things you didn’t know (but should) about the world economy

The end of foreign policy

Ian MacFadyen is a respected consultant, coach and commentator. He has advised governments in the UK and overseas, coached senior public officials, and commented in print and television on public services, reform and the Budget.

His public service career finished in Namibia, advising the government, and South Africa, helping design a poverty relief programme.

He set out to be a lawyer and volunteered in a law centre, appearing at the Old Bailey. But, he was engrossed in advising ministers by the time he got the degree. He went on to work closely with government lawyers and advise ministers on employment protection and other matters while working on policy in the Prime Minister’s Efficiency Unit in the Cabinet Office.

He brought to that work direct experience of commissioning health services in County Durham and having to justify decisions face to face with the public. His audiences ranged from several hundred to a single person. He won many people over and replaced a decade of animosity with cooperation. Earlier he advised on artificial limb services, hospitals, addictions, medicines, delinquency and manpower in the Department of Health and Social Security. He began by assessing benefits.

In Luton he founded a battered wives refuge. In east London, he was a Liberal council candidate. In Leeds in 2010, he is chair of the Liberal Democrats’ city-wide campaign group.

He was on the management committee of a charity for young homeless people in London. In east London, he was a successful chair of governors at a popular multi-ethnic, multi-faith school. Currently he is an elder and trustee of a church charity in Leeds.

Welsh and Scots by background, brought up in England and internationalist in outlook, his talks, writing, consultancy, coaching and workshops, draw on local and global references. With amusing anecdotes and quotations from a wide range of sources including Calgacus and the Beatles he shares his deep understanding of politics, current affairs, government, leadership, the public sector and reform. His style is relaxed. Successes include persuading a political commissar outsourcing could advance the revolution, winning over trades unions and persuading a most senior government figure to change his mind.

John Lloyd is a Contributing Editor for the Financial Times; Director of Journalism at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford; Director of the Axess Programme on Journalism and Democracy; and a columnist for La Repubblica of Rome.

At the FT, he has been Labour Editor, Industrial Editor, East European Editor and Moscow Bureau Chief.
In 2003, he launched and edited (till 2005) the FT Magazine.

He is the co-founder of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, launched in November 2006

He is a member of the editorial board of Prospect magazine, and of the board of the Moscow School of Political Studies.

John has won awards as Journalist of the Year, Specialist Writer of the Year, and the David Watt Prize. He has been editor of the New Statesman in the 1980s and of Time Out in the 1970s. He has worked for Weekend World, the London Programme (LWT) and for Independent Radio News.

His books include “Loss without Limit: the British Miners’ Strike”; “Rebirth of a Nation: an Anatomy of Russia”; and “What the Media are doing to our politics”.

Mark Oaten was Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Winchester for 13 years and at one time considered favourite for party leadership. He is a recognised leading expert on the subject of Coalition governments- his book Coalitions was first published in 2007.

Oaten now lectures and advises a wide range of clients on the practical workings of successful coalitions.

He is currently a member of the Council of Europe representing the UK. He is a Board member of the British Healthcare Trade Association, Alcohol Concern, Mental Health Matters, the prison charity Unlock, the Council for Administration and a Director of the Charity Finance Directors Group.

Mark lectures at Wroxton College in Oxford and provides commentary and reviews for Sky and BBC Television.
During his time in parliament he was Chairman of the Liberal Democrats, Shadow Home Secretary and a member of the Business Select Committee.

Rachel Marsden is an internationally renowned political affairs commentator, a communications strategist, analyst, writer, and broadcast journalist.

“Rachel offers incisive comment, witty insight, informed opinion and a rare slice of beauty to modern political commentary” THE POLITICONOMIST

Currently based in Paris, she has presented programmes in varying capacities on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business, Al Jazeera, LCP TV France, Paris Premiere (France), iTele (France), France24, Global Television, Sirius Satellite Radio and other TV and radio outlets.

Unique in many respects, Rachel is immersed and informed in political affairs on both sides of the Atlantic. This rare knowledge has made her a popular conference and consultancy choice with many leading global corporations.

Marsden is a contributor to London’s Daily Telegraph online, Human Events, Townhall.com, and many other publications.

Previously a weekly columnist with Sun Media, she contributes to publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Washington Times/United Press International, Newsmax Media, and The Vancouver Sun. Marsden has also written a twice-weekly political column for the National Post – one of Canada’s two national newspapers – with one weekly column about national/international politics, and the other about Toronto/Ontario affairs.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Marsden was raised in the birthplace of political talk-radio, where she grew up listening to Jack Webster and watching Liberal Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, flip people off. She still holds several major records in competitive swimming from her days as an international level competitor.

The fully bilingual former print and runway model was schooled almost exclusively in French until high school. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Simon Fraser University on a full academic scholarship before pursuing graduate studies in law and criminology, a journalism degree at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, then political journalism at the National Journalism Center in Washington, DC. For her academic achievements, she was awarded the Canadian Governor General’s medal for academic excellence.

After working as a producer, anchor, camerawoman, and reporter for a cable news outlet in her hometown, and as a videographer for Rugby Canada and BC Rugby, her first major media position was with ABC News’ 20/20 in New York City, where she apprenticed under Connie Chung and learned that you can’t live in New York City on $5/day. After an apprenticeship in talk-radio at the Radio America Network in Washington, DC, Marsden was hired as Director of a DC-based conservative think-tank that was a key component of President George W. Bush’s beltway coalition during the lead-up to the Iraq War.

She returned to her native Canada to work as an operative on two simultaneous federal campaigns for current Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party in the province of British Columbia, specializing in communications strategy and opposition intelligence.

At the same time, she began contributing to United Press International (UPI), and hosting a call-in talk-radio show in Vancouver, BC, where she interviewed and debated guests ranging from Canada’s then Deputy Prime Minister, Sheila Copps, and current International Trade Minister, Stockwell Day, to Ann Coulter and Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy of the Richard Nixon administration.

It was this hour-long interview with Liddy – in which he talked in-depth about his role in Watergate and the scandal’s aftermath – that caught the attention of David Asper, the Executive Vice-President of the CanWest Global media empire, who offered her a Toronto-based political columnist position at the National Post, in conjunction with then publisher, Lester Pyette.

Having quickly established a unique, controversial, populist conservative voice in the Canadian media, she switched to a regular column in the Sun Media chain, and started her own public relations and communications company on Toronto’s Bay Street.

While based in Toronto, Marsden started out with the Fox News Channel in 2004 as the Canadian Correspondent for The O’Reilly Factor — the top-rated cable news show in the world — after she was spotted as a regular panelist on Dennis Miller’s CNBC show in Los Angeles. She was recruited by Rupert Murdoch’s chief lieutenant and former Ronald Reagan communications strategist, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who personally selected her to be the only conservative on a daily national talk show with three other male co-hosts.

After several months, Marsden left the show when it underwent a format change, stating, “The show has drastically changed direction since its inception and apparently no longer has a place for a political pundit.” She has since appeared on Fox Business.

Marsden has since returned to her entrepreneurial roots, picking and choosing interviews, appearances and projects, and working with various television and radio networks as a free-agent. She continues to work as a political operative, opposition intelligence (“oppo”) researcher and media/strategy consultant, in France, the USA, UK, emerging democracies, Canada and elsewhere.

She speaks on Capitol Hill and elsewhere on topics such as national and international politics; the impact of current political events on business; political strategies applied to business; crisis management; the war on terrorism; national security; leveraging media and public relations in business; media and technology; politics and technology; election analysis; the cultural and economic impact of immigration; and various other public policy issues.

In February 2008, Marsden launched an online political talent project and magazine, GrandCentralPolitical.com to cultivate new and emerging media and political talent.

Gary Duncan is the former Economics Editor of The Times, an award-winning journalist, and one of the country’s leading economic and financial commentators. As a Times columnist, he jointly wrote the paper’s flagship weekly economics commentary, sharing this with Anatole Kaletsky.

Duncan has covered economics for The Times for the past decade. Before becoming Economics Editor he was Economics Correspondent for four years. Previously, he spent 10 years writing for The Scotsman, Scotland’s national newspaper, where he was Economics Editor and chief economics commentator, writing a regular weekly column on UK and Scottish economic affairs. He also spent five years covering UK politics as a Lobby Correspondent at Westminster, becoming a noted commentator on political trends, as well as an admired and witty sketch-writer.

Gary Duncan has an in-depth expertise on the UK economy, with contacts at the highest levels among top economic policy-makers, in Britain and beyond. He has interviewed leading figures including the last three Chancellors of the Exchequer, the present and previous Governors of the Bank of England (Mervyn King and Lord George), many past and present members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, as well as senior US policy-makers.

Duncan is highly regarded for his insight into all aspects of monetary, fiscal, and broader economic policy, as well as their impact on UK politics and the business environment. He also has extensive expertise in the European, US and leading Asian economies, as well as broader global economic prospects and trends. He is adept at simplifying complex issues and presenting them in a lucid and compelling, as well as entertaining way.

Gary Duncan has substantial experience of speaking to audiences of all sizes from 10 to 500-plus, including conference platform speaking, and presentations at business lunches and dinners. He has chaired formal events for the World Economic Forum’s prestigious annual meeting in Davos, with participants up to heads of governments and multi-national chief executives.

After many years in high-level diplomacy Charles Crawford has a unique profile as an imaginative, dynamic and even provocative speaker who has addressed audiences large and small in English, Polish and Serbian

After an Honours degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University he qualified as a Barrister before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

From 1985-87 Charles served as Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe’s official Speechwriter, contributing ideas/language for speeches by the Foreign Secretary (major set-piece speeches, Parliamentary debates and less formal after-dinner remarks)

His first job on joining the FCO in 1979 was to head the Indonesia Section, followed by his first posting, to communist post-Tito Yugoslavia. He returned to London in 1984 and after a year on the Aviation Desk was appointed FCO Speech-writer. He was posted to South Africa in 1987 as part of the Embassy team led by Ambassador Robin Renwick working to end apartheid.

Returning to London in 1991 he worked in the FCO Department dealing with the Soviet Union as communist rule collapsed. He then spent three years in Moscow as Political Counsellor and then served three times as HM Ambassador: in Sarajevo (1996-1998); in Belgrade (2001-2003) and most recently in Poland (2003-2007).

In 1987 he wrote the FCO’s first Guide to Speech-Writing, a dynamic text full of real-life examples on how to write speeches – and how to weed out lugubrious mistakes. Two decades later it remains a core part of the FCO’s speech-drafting training

He subsequently contributed to speeches by members of the Royal Family and successive Prime Ministers, as well as different Ministers and other senior personalities in public and commercial life

He left the FCO at the end of 2007 to start a new career as writer, consultant, mediator and trainer. In 2009 he joined the UK Conservative Party candidates list

In recent months Charles Crawford led training courses for senior EU and other officials and private clients aimed at improving their communication skills. He has written for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Independent, DIPLOMAT and Total Politics.

In 2009 his audiences included the Headmasters Conference and Conservative Friends of Poland, as well as private groups and academic gatherings

In 2010 he and other former British Ambassadors in partnership with ADR Group launched a new senior strategic dispute resolution panel, ADRg Ambassadors

Charles Crawford’s trenchant observations on public policy issues are now available to a growing readership on his blog




Such honesty has no place in modern government…it’s bloody dangerous!
Andrew Dodge (Samizdata)

The most telling critique of this delusional foreign policy comes in regular instalments in the form of a blog by the former British ambassador to Poland, Charles Crawford. It’s called www.charlescrawford.biz, and if you want to know just how much in despair many of our diplomats are, this is the place to look
Dominic Lawson (The Times, 2010)

In 2005 a humorous FCO email he wrote as Ambassador to Warsaw (a satirical speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair damning other countries’ selfishness on EU Budget issues) caused a stir when it was leaked to the Sunday Times

His FCO written work was praised at the highest levels in London, NATO and the EU for its uncompromising dynamic style:

“fabulously readable and interesting analysis, with practical application … just about the best scenesetter [No10 staff] have ever seen”

“acrobatic and eye-catching in his use of language”

As a speaker Charles Crawford draws on dramatic episodes from his diplomatic career to explain wider policy themes, paradoxes and trends. His presentations are interesting and thought-provoking, but above all memorable

He is strong on foreign and public policy issues such as:

o Communism (and Vampires)
o Dealing with extremists and war criminals
o Climate change and PPP (perverse precautionary principles)
o Amazon Space: how the Internet is changing the strategic policy context
o International negotiation (as explained by Shrek, the Joker and Clint Eastwood)
o UK/European Union relations: Too Big (not) to Fail

Dr Eamonn Butler is Director and co-founder of Britain’s leading free-market policy think tank, the Adam Smith Institute, and a leading author and broadcaster on economics and social issues. Westminster insiders look forward each week to his wry online commentary on politics and politicians.

Eamonn is the winner, with his colleague Dr Madsen Pirie, of the 2010 National Free Enterprise Award, for the greatest contribution to furthering the market economy. He is Vice-President of the Mont Pelerin Society, an international association of distinguished economists and entrepreneurs, founded in 1947 by the Nobel Prize winner F A Hayek.

After leaving St Andrews University in the 1970s with degrees in Economics, Psychology and Ethics, he joined the brain drain out of bankrupt Britain, becoming a policy analyst at the US House of Representatives in Washington. “There, I saw how laws are made,” he says.

He returned to edit an insurance magazine in the City, and to co-found the Adam Smith Institute, which for ten years became the chief intellectual force behind privatisation, internal markets, contracting out, and other foundations of the Thatcher Revolution.

Eamonn is author of books on a wide range of subjects, from economics through psychology to politics. These include easy-read introductions to the economists Milton Friedman, F A Hayek and Adam Smith, and a short explanation of how markets work, called (modestly) The Best Book on the Market, which he wrote to be “so simple that even politicians can understand it.”

He is also co-author of Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls (which traces economic incompetence back to Hammurabi of Babylon) and a series of IQ testers including The Sherlock Holmes IQ Book.

Recently, he has published a popular paperback explaining what has gone wrong with the UK, The Rotten State of Britain (2009), and what he calls a DIY manual for fixing it, The Alternative Manifesto.

His ability to explain complex economic and political issues in a simple, amusing and controversial style has led to Eamonn appearing on speaking platforms in every continent, he says, “except Antarctica – though if the global warming nuts are right, I could break my duck there soon.”

He is an experienced broadcaster, appearing regularly on current-affairs programmes, including The Today Programme, Newsnight, The Week, Any Questions, The PM Programme, Question Time Extra, Five Live Breakfast, Five Live Drive Time, News at Ten, Jeff Randall Live, and Sky News. His articles have appeared in national newspapers including The Times and Sunday Times, The Daily (and Sunday) Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Mail and Mail on Sunday, the London Evening Standard, The Scotsman, The Herald and (his personal favourite because “I’ve followed Oor Wullie since I was six and The Broons since I was seven”) The Sunday Post.

His writing for specialist journals such as Financial World and Private Banking has courted controversy recently by maintaining that the financial crisis was caused entirely by “incompetent politicians and regulators” rather than by “greedy bankers”. His insights into the world of political economy and centre-right policy thinking make him much in demand as a speaker and commentator for corporate clients.

In February 2010, Total Politics magazine ranked Dr Butler at 30th on a list of key unelected figures whose work and views exert measurable political influence today.

Shane Greer is a leading political commentator, writer and is the executive editor of the popular political monthly magazine Total Politics.

Shane launched Total Politics in 2008 with its publisher, the renowned commentator and blogger, Iain Dale, and has since helped establish it as one of the UK’s top political magazines.

In May 2010 he assumes the role of Managing Director of the leading publishing group Biteback Media, the company which also own Total Politics magazine.

Shane appears regularly on television and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, Daily Politics, BBC Breakfast, BBC World Service, Channel 4 News, More 4 News, Al Jazeera and BBC Radio and is a paper reviewer for both Sky and the BBC.

His first foray into politics was as the Executive Director of the Young Britons’ Foundation and as a lead presenter on the world’s first political internet television channel 18 Doughty Street. Shane is originally from Northern Ireland, but has since set up his home in London after spending time in Glasgow, the North West of England and Washington DC in the USA.

Shane writes for Total Politics, has blogged for the Daily Telegraph and Centre for Political Studies, was an online columnist for Sky News during the 2008 US presidential election and writes for the Yorkshire Post.

Shane’s first book Why Vote Conservative will be available at the beginning of March, followed closely by his second book,‘So You Want to be a Politician’. The former makes the case for voting Conservative at the coming general election and the latter is an essential read for first time candidates, sitting politicians, anyone intending to run an effective campaign and anyone interested in the art and science of political campaigning. Both books are published by Biteback.

Shane’s deep understanding of politics and political campaigning was recognised by leading US magazine, Campaigns and Elections, which has invited him for the last two years to join the judges panel for the Reed Awards; the US’ preeminent awards recognising campaigning excellence across the spectrum of political campaigns.

“Shane Greer is not only an accomplished blogger, but also an astute political analyst and excellent TV pundit. He is a regular on Sky News, featuring prominently on our Sky.Com programme, a half-hour daily show highlighting the web’s agenda, and frequently reviewing the newspapers with wit and aplomb.” -
JON CRAIG, Chief Political Correspondent, Sky News

Steve Richards is one of Britain’s leading political commentators and broadcasters. He is Chief Political Columnist for the Independent, Contributing Editor of the New Statesman and presenter of Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

For eight years Steve also presented GMTV’s live political show The Sunday Programme. He has written and presented several political films for Channel Four and BBC2. He was named political journalist of the year in 2009 by the Political Studies Association. Currently Steve is writing a book on the New Labour years, which will be published in September. He has also written for the Guardian, Standard, and Sunday Times.

Steve aims to take audiences behind the scenes of British politics, conveying the high theatre and epic personal dramas of an election year, the comedy and the tragedy: Gordon Brown has ached to be Prime Minister for most of his life and now prepares for his first election as leader well behind in the polls; Cabinet ministers plan a make or break campaign and yet plot for the future and the sweaty drama of a leadership contest; David Cameron and George Osborne exude a public confidence while preparing for the intense scrutiny of an election and power for the first time as major public figures. They are the novices; Nick Clegg wonders whether power is about to be thrust upon him. Or does he face the dark gloom of eternal opposition? In his talks Steve answers this question and many others.

Broadcaster turned parliamentary candidate Esther Rantzen had described Steve as the “most entertaining political speaker in the UK” and Martin Bell says of him, “Steve is as entertaining as John Sergeant”, a comparison that is surely a compliment.

Steve is a regular guest on Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC’s Newsight and has appeared on Any Questions, Question Time and Andrew Neil’s Politics Show. For several years he was a presenter of BBC2’s Despatch Box and was a BBC Political Correspondent who reported on the fall of Margaret Thatcher and the rise of Tony Blair. He has chaired major political conferences and has also spoken on politics as a guest at conferences and as an after dinner speaker.

The Rt Hon Dr Vincent Cable is unable to accept or consider commercial speaking offers for the duration of his tenure as a Government Minister.

The biographical information detailed here refers to his career prior to appointment as Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills in May 2010.



Vince Cable is the highly respected economic spokesman, former acting leader for the Liberal Democrats and Member of Parliament for Twickenham in west London. His experience in the field of economics is drawn from serving as Chief Economist for Shell for two years up to 1997. Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell in 2006 he was acting party leader until Nick Clegg’s election. Cable has been deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats and LibDem Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2006, he was more recently elevated to ‘Saint Vince’ for his views following the banking crisis.

Professor Roger Steare is a leading practitioner in the development and delivery of Leadership, Culture and Ethics programs globally, for organizations such as BP, Citigroup, HSBC and PwC. He helps people in organizations all over the world develop good thinking and then do the right thing.

Regulators and law enforcement agencies including the FSA, the SFO and the US Department of Justice have endorsed the effectiveness of his highly interactive programs and while his consultancy work has been acclaimed by top executives from firms such as HSBC and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, his book ethicability®: How to decide what’s right and find the courage to do it has been endorsed by President Jimmy Carter and David Cameron MP.

Roger Steare is Professor of Organizational Ethics and Corporate Philosopher in Residence at the Cass Business School in London, where he teaches ethics at undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA levels. He conducts extensive research on human character, judgement and behaviour, and has published research based on over 20,000 “Moral DNA” profiles of people in 162 countries.

He is a Fellow of the influential centre-right policy think tank, Respublica; a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts; and a Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals.

Roger is a recognized media expert on ethics issues, appearing regularly on BBC Newsnight, the BBC World Service, CNBC Europe and in the FT and The Times. He was a member of the Expert Drafting Committee for Rights and Humanity, invited by the British Government to prepare recommendations for the G20 London Summit in April 2009.

Roger studied the History of Western Philosophy with the late Lord Conrad Russell, son of the great British philosopher Bertrand Russell and draws on a wide range of professional experience as a banker, a social worker, an executive coach and CEO of a UK subsidiary of Adecco, the world’s largest employment agency.

Whether as an enthusiastic, capable conference facilitator, a speaker working interactively among delegates on the floor, or as an advisor and consultant to boards and businesses, Roger’s unique skill set and ability to communicate his advice and views ensure he is constantly in international demand. He unfailingly provokes lively debate and discussion and the fascinating, thought inspiring opinions he holds on ethicability in the world of politics make him an important member of our Election 2010 commentary team.

View the corporate showreel for Prof. Roger Steare, the leading consultant, educator and speaker in the field of ethics.

Stephan Shakespeare is widely known as the charismatic founder of YouGov, PoliticsHome, ConservativeHome and 18 Doughty Street, the world’s first political internet TV station. Born in post war Germany, Shakespeare saw politics at work from an early age through his father who was a Journalist and press officer.

His family relocated to the UK in 1962 where he continued his education graduating from Oxford. Shakespeare was founding Principal of Landmark West Preparatory School in Los Angeles and held several senior teaching positions in California before returning to Britain as a political commentator, including a stint as a pollster for the Conservative party and spokesman for Jeffrey archer. Education remains an area of particular interest to him; he writes regularly for the national press on education policy.

Stephan Shakespeare has an unrivalled ability to understand and predict political outcomes. In the general election of 1997, he was beaten for the Colchester seat by Lib Dem candidate Bob Russell.

Within a year of founding market research and polling company YouGov he scored a major coup by predicting 2001 election victory for Labour to an accuracy of 1%. Shakespeare’s reputation as a fearsome innovator and businessman equals his political ability. YouGov has aquired major investment and now operates in the USA.

The Guardian included him in their line up of UK 100 most influential media personalities in 2008, rating him as “the pollster with the uncanny ability of getting it right”.

In 2008 Shakespeare along with Freddie Sayers established PoliticsHome which became rapidly established as the definitive source for political research and news.

PoliticsHome has become one of the most visited sites for political professionals and commentators, as with YouGov the operation has extended its services to America, and its innovative methods have been applied to the commercial sector across the world.

Julia Hartley-Brewer is Assistant Editor and columnist on The Sunday Express. She is also a well known for her regular appearances on programmes such as Have I Got News For You and Question Time. She once had a regular spot on Sky News as a newspaper reviewer.

Her newspaper career started with a stint on a local east London paper, the East London Advertiser before joining The Evening Standard as a reporter on the Londoner’s Diary and political correspondent. Her interest in political stories lead her to The Guardian and ultimately to The Express.

In 2006, she presented two political documentaries for the BBC; the programme “Every Prime Minister Needs a Willie” studied the history of Deputy Prime Ministers of Britain, whilst “The Worst Job in Politics” looked at the history of the Leaders of the Opposition.

Quentin Letts is The Daily Mail’s star Parliamentary sketch writer and a prolific contributor to the news and magazine press including The Telegraph, New Statesman and formerly, The Times. He regularly appears on television progammes such as This Week, Newsnight, Have I Got News For You and Question Time.

His writing career has included writing and editing newspaper diaries for the likes of the Evening Standard’s ‘Londoner’s Diary’ and heading up the Daily Telegraph’s Peterborough column for four years.

Letts has worked as New York correspondent for both The Telegraph and The Times, returning to the UK to take up sketch-writing for the Daily Telegraph. Letts was lured to the Daily Mail by Editor Paul Dacre to revive parliamentary sketches in the paper.

Quentin Letts is a proudly self confessed middle-class scratcher renown for his mastery of the vituperative arts.

His highly acclaimed yet controversial book 50 People Who Buggered Up Britain reached number 3 on the Independent’s politics & current affairs bestseller list and is a recommended read by Specialist Speakers.

Quentin Letts is a highly recommended after dinner speaker and panellist for political and current affairs focussed debates.

Edwina Currie was born in Liverpool and graduated from Oxford and London Universities. She taught economics and economic history and was a tutor for the Open University. Birmingham City Councillor (1975-1986), Chairman of Central Birmingham Health Authority and served as MP for South Derbyshire from1983 – 1997.Edwina is a well known broadcaster and author. She writes regularly for the national press and many magazines related to Women, health and politics.

She has written several books, including “Life Lines” published in 1989, on her time as Health Minister. “What Women Want” on women’s roles and “Three Line Quips” witticisms from the House of Commons.

Her first novel “A Parliamentary Affair” went to Number 1 in the best-seller lists and has sold over 250,000 copies in English and been translated into German, Italian, Polish and Russian. Her second “A Woman’s Place” (1996) and third “She’s Leaving Home” (1997) set in her native Liverpool, were also best-sellers. The fourth novel “The Ambassador” a tongue-in-cheek look at the world in the near future. Her books are borrowed over 100,000 times a year from libraries. Her novel “Chasing Men” appeared in February 2000.

Edwina presents her own programme “Late Night Currie” for BBC Radio Five Live. She is also frequently heard on Radio 4 and Radio 2. On television she has presented “Sunday Supplement” for central TV and “Espresso” for Channel 5, “Menu from Heaven” for ITV in April/May 1998 and her BBC daytime TV series “What Now”.
From 1985-86 Edwina was PPS (aide) to Sir Keith Joseph at the Department of Education and science from 1986-88 she was a government minister at the DHSS (later the Department of Health) under Margaret Thatcher. She resigned after warning about food safety in eggs. John Major invited her to rejoin the government in 1992 but she declined. She lost her seat in the 1997 General Election.

A pro-European, in June 1994 she was a candidate for the European Parliament for Beds and Milton Keynes. The Conservatives won 18 out of 87 seats and she was not returned. 1995 – 1997 Edwina was Chairman of the Conservative Group for Europe and 1995 – 1999 was vice chairman of the all-party European Movement.
She has been the subject of several full-length documentary profiles including “The Other Half” (1984 John Pitman), Channel 4 “Dispatches” (1989 Michael Cockerell), “Vanessa’s Day with…..” (1997 Vanessa Feltz). She frequently appears on other radio and TV stations.

December 1988 Edwina Currie was runner-up to Mrs Thatcher in BBC Radio 4’s “Woman of the Year” poll; the following year she came sixth in the same poll (between Mother Theresa and Raisa Gorbachev). In 1990 Curry was chosen as “Campaigner of the Year” in The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards for her work on homosexual equality.

John Reid was born in Lanarkshire. The son of a postman and a factory worker he attended St. Patrick’s High School in Coatbridge and went on to read History at Stirling University, gaining a PhD.

Dr Reid has served at almost every level of the Labour Party, from branch to constituency. From 1979 to 1983 he was Research Officer for the Labour Party in Scotland subsequently becoming political adviser to the Labour Leader, Neil Kinnock from 1983 to 1985. He went on to become Scottish Organiser of Trade Unionists for Labour from 1986 to 1987. He was tipped for success from his first election to the Commons in 1987 and soon became a defence spokesman, where he spent seven years in opposition before joining the Ministry of Defence when Labour came to power in 1997.

He was largely responsible for the Strategic Defence Review, and was made minister for transport in 1998. He impressed PM Tony Blair with his robust performance and joined the cabinet as Scottish secretary after the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. Following Peter Mandelson’s second fall, he became Northern Ireland Secretary.

He moved from the province shortly after being forced to suspend devolution in October 2002. His trouble-shooting skills were turned instead to more purely political questions, as Tony Blair appointed him Labour Party Chairman and Minister without Portfolio.

In March 2003, he was given his fourth different Cabinet role, when he was appointed Leader of the House of Commons following Robin Cook’s resignation.

And less than three months later he became health secretary when Alan Milburn quit the government.
Reid has been a Lanarkshire MP for the past 18 years, representing Motherwell North and Hamilton North and Bellshill. Following the Boundary Commission’s decision to disband his previous seat, he was elected as MP for Airdrie and Shotts at the 2005 general election.

His 10-year ministerial career saw him undertake nine different ministerial jobs, his appointment as health secretary in June 2003 took him into his fourth cabinet job in less than a year.

1989-1990 Opposition Spokesman on Children
1990-199 Opposition Spokesman on Defence
1997-1998 Minister of Defence
1998-1999 Minister for Transport
1999-2001 Secretary of State for Scotland
2001-2002 Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
2002-2003 Party Chair and Minister without Portfolio
2003 Leader of the House of Commons
2003-2005 Secretary of State for Health
2005-2006 Secretary of State for Defence
2006-2007 Secretary of State for The Home Department (Home Secretary)