As the Club’s honorary Librarian, I curate our collections of rare Liberal books, pamphlets and ephemera. I am an academic historian and investigative journalist, with two specialisms: the history of British political finance, and the history of private members’ clubs. I am the author of ‘Club Government’ (2018) and ‘The Secret Life of London Clubs’ (2022). I was also elected as a voting member of the Council in 2022 and sit on the Club’s Membership Committee. I’ve taught students across London, Oxford and Warwick Universities, and from Georgetown in the USA. Long- standing freelance assignments include Private Eye (allegedly) and openDemocracy, with a sideline in business intelligence consultancy, focused around risk.
Shortlisted for the Whitfield Prize in History (2019) and the British Journalism Award for Best Investigation (2020). My work means I now have to be largely politically inactive; but I remain a lifelong Liberal, and have held various Lib Dem party posts. (Seth joined the Club in 2004, was elected to the General Committee in 2010 and to its successor, the Members’ Council, in 2022.)