Sector: The General Committee

How did I get here? 15 years at the BBC, then three decades running my own marketing, events, and production company. Today I’m a full-time writer – with a crime thriller trilogy set in the world of showbiz, having worked in the business-of-show all over the world.

I hope that joining the Club’s Members’ Council will allow me to contribute a combination of sound business acumen with creative solutions to some of the challenges facing us.

I was pleased to learn that my modest protest at being forced to wear a jacket despite sweltering summer heat in the Dining Room helped to trigger the latest dress code reforms agreed at the recent AGM. Thank you. Similar rules applied for all sexes and ethnicities seems a good start.

My past publications include The History of Contraception, The Cardio-Protective Effect of Wine and many more. I live with my wife, Sue, in the beautiful Wye Valley and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, visiting London frequently. (Richard joined the Club in 2022 and was elected to the Members’ Council in 2023.)

A business consultant specialising in everything ‘membership’ I’m now mostly retired but still interested in aspects of tourism and heritage (nearly 30 years’ senior experience with the National Trust), the environment (six years at the Peak District
National Park), natural history and bird watching, in particular.

At the NLC, I previously served on the General Committee, chaired the Marketing & Communications Committee, and sat on the Membership and Beer, Wine and Spirits
Committees. After a year away from all that, I’m excited to once again be part of the active life of our Club and keen to help it thrive.

Outside Clubland I’m a baritone with Wimbledon Choral, piano accompanist to the Lantern Arts Choir (based in Raynes Park) and a singer/pianist with the Big Heart Band, singing lustily in care homes in Wimbledon and throughout SW London, whether the residents like it or not.… (they usually do, though). I also chair Pentire, the unofficial association for retired former staff of the National Trust. (Alex joined the Club in 2004, was elected to the General Commmittee from 2019-22
and to its successor, the Members’ Council, in 2023.)

As  a graduate in English and History from Trinity College, Dublin, I smiled to hear that T.S.Eliot called the National Liberal Club’s Thames-side Terrace the best terrace in London. Eliot was, of course, correct! I grew up in Dublin, moving to London in the mid-1980s and have worked in the UK criminal justice system as a solicitor ever since.

I have watched the Circles and Forums covering so many different interests in the Club expand in breadth and in numbers and and support the Irish Circle in particular. I am bowled over by the Club’s huge increase in membership achieved in recent years. Although not a Political member, I nevertheless support the liberal values of the Club and very much welcome its diversity.

I was previously a member of the General Committee but have been less active in the last few years due to other pressing commitments. I look forward to a productive year, supporting Karin Rehacek in all her endeavours in her role as Club Chair. (Gillian joined the Club in 2009 and was elected to the Members’ Council in 2023.)

My first memories of the NLC are from the 1980s when I can remember being taken there by my mother as she attended Lib Dem committee meetings. Today I’m the founder and CEO of a City consultancy, but I began my career as an adviser to Vince Cable when he was an MP, later becoming Campaign Director at the Electoral Reform. I then joined the Financial Services Authority as a regulator after the financial Crash.

For those like me, without a fixed base in London, the NLC is a haven and a home from home, with huge opportunities to foster an expanded country membership among the burgeoning remote working community.

A local councillor and campaigner, I’m active in my local community in West Wales, living on the family smallholding in Carmarthenshire with my wife, Genevieve, where I practice the fine Gladstonian tradition of tree-felling and tree planting both to keep fit and keep our home carbon neutral. (Havard joined the NLC in 2013 and was elected to the Members’ Council in 2023.)

The vast range of events and activities available at the NLC is something I relish, especially the many high-quality musical concerts staged at the Club. I also greatly value the cultural diversity of our growing membership.

I am honoured to lead the team who assess how we deal with complaints between members, where my aim will always be to seek mediation and conciliation as the preferred way of resolving disputes.Those duties preclude me seeking any prominent public role in Club life but I will certainly have no qualms about making my voice heard in the Members’ Council and will speak up to protect the crucial independence of our complaints process.

The ability to dance is something I have always admired. I took up latin and ballroom dancing some years ago and would love to develop a ‘Strictly’ Circle at the Club: we certainly have the elegant spaces for it! (David joined the Club in 2016 and was elected to the Members’ Council in 2023)