Biography

 

I grew up and went to school in Harrow, and now live with my wonderful little boy, Lysander, on Harrow on the Hill.


Career

I work in communications, public affairs and stakeholder engagement and have worked for a number of organisations including: Haringey Council, the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Sovereign Housing Association, the Henry Jackson Society, Citizens Advice, and London Councils.

At Citizens Advice, I led their successful campaign to refresh the Council Tax Collection Protocol agreed with the Local Government Association. To date, over 60 councils in England have signed-up to the new Protocol, improving how councils treat taxpayers when collecting taxes, especially those struggling to pay.

I have significant local government experience:

  • Professionally, I was political adviser to Harrow Council’s Conservative Group (2000-3) before moving to become Political Adviser to London’s Conservative Borough Leaders at London Councils (2003-14). At Citizens Advice, I led on local government engagement (2014-18) and am now working as a housing engagement officer for Haringey Council (2021-present).
  • I was also an elected councillor in the London Borough of Harrow (2006-18). I served in various roles, including: Deputy Leader of the Council (2013-14), Portfolio Holder for Adults & Housing Services (2008-10; 2013-14), and Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group (2010-18). and represented Harrow Council on Harrow Primary Care Trust (2008-10) and Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (2008-10).
  • In addition, I served on the Local Government Association’s Resources Board (2016-18) and was an LGA member peer (2014-19).

I’ve also been a welfare policy researcher at the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Health & Welfare Unit (now Civitas), and interned at the Cato Institute in Washington DC.


Studies

I have a BA in Economics and an MA in political philosophy, on the Idea of Toleration from the University of York.

Subsequently, I did post-graduate research and taught political philosophy, first at the University of Hull (Dept. of Politics), then at the University of Arizona (Dept. of Philosophy).

Over the years, I benefited from attending several academic summer seminars organised by the Institute for Humane Studies, the Institute for Economic Studies-Europe, the Cato Institute, the Critical Review Foundation, the Foundation for Economic Education and the Ludwig von Mises Institute. More recently, I’ve been participating in some great virtual reading groups organised by Liberty Fund and the Institute for Liberal Studies.