Advisory Council Members

Robin Edwards (Chairman) is a Chartered Accountant and Fund Manager who for fifteen years managed one of Europe’s largest global macro funds. More recently he has become involved as a director and shareholder in a number of businesses which benefit from his commercial and financial background. Through Maxim Fund Management Limited Robin manages a “family office” fund investing across a broad spectrum of asset classes to deliver low risk stable returns. In addition, Maxim is a joint venture partner in a group of companies investing in clean energy and habitat conservation.

Robin is chairman of Latis Homes Limited which is committed to building low carbon, lifetime homes designed and built to promote sustainable living. The Latis agenda is to increase the speed and quality of home construction whilst reducing energy demand and providing design and contemporary lifestyle value well beyond that conventionally found in UK volume housing.

Prior to entering the fund management industry Robin practised as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen LLC in London and as a management consultant in Australia. He is also a Trustee of several charities and a former chairman of The Queen’s Club where he continues as a Trustee.

Lord Jamie Borwick was elected to the House of Lords by his peers in 2013 where he sits as a Conservative. Prior to his entry into the House, Lord Borwick had a long career in business, most notably as chief executive of Manganese Bronze Holdings Plc, which manufactures black cabs, between 1987 and 2001. He was also founder and owner of Coventry electric truck producer Modec between 2004 and 2011 and was chairman of Route2Mobility Ltd, which funded wheelchairs and scooters for disabled people, until October 2010. He has also served as chairman of Countryside Properties (Bicester) Ltd, managing director of Love Lane Investments Ltd and chairman of Federated Trust Corporation Ltd. He was a non-executive Director of Hansa Trust Plc from 1984 to 2012. In addition to his work in business, he has also served as a trustee of the British Lung Foundation and the Royal Brompton and Harefield Charity, as well as deputy chairman on the board of the British Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership.

Douglas Carswell is a British former Member of Parliament [2005 to 2017],  think tanker, author and policy expert. He was voted Parliamentarian of the Year by readers of the political magazine, the Spectator, in 2009. He has a track-record building teams that successfully influence political outcomes pioneering the use of digital campaigning to win elections and has produced online content watched by hundreds of thousands. Douglas has authored several books and influential policy papers and writes for several newspapers including the Times, Financial Times, Telegraph and New York Times. He is the founder of ‘The Good Governance Project’ to help improve to improve the way the UK is governed by reengineering what government does and how public administration in Britain functions.

Alex Deane is a Managing Director in the Strategic Communications segment at FTI Consulting and is based in London. He is part of the Public Affairs practice, and its Corporate Communications practice in EMEA. A Cambridge graduate, Alex practiced as a barrister for several years and served as the founding Director of Big Brother Watch. An active member of the Conservative party since 1995, Alex served as Chief of Staff to David Cameron and Tim Collins during their respective periods as Shadow Secretaries of State for Education in opposition. In 2007, he was asked to serve as an adviser to the Liberal Party’s campaign for re-election at the federal polls under John Howard. Mr. Deane was an elected Common Councilman in the City of London.

Linda Edwards is a native US citizen and a naturalized UK citizen. She attended both university and law school in Texas (Trinity University BA in Economics 1988, University of Texas JD 1993). Linda practiced mergers and acquisitions law at Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles 1993-2000, before moving to London as a trailing spouse with a baby in tow in the summer of 2000. She then retired from the practice of law and became more involved in the community. Linda lived in Dubai from 2008-2010, Paris from 2010-2012, and Hong Kong from 2012-2014, before returning full time to London, which has remained her permanent residence. Linda has had a long relationship with the Cato Institute and also supports the Reason Foundation, the Atlas Network, the Instituto Bruno Leoni, and other groups that are promoting Classical Liberal ideas.

Lord Howard Flight was appointed to the House of Lords by David Cameron, at the end of 2010. He was the Member of Parliament for Arundel from 1997 to 2005, during which time he served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and was a member of the Conservative Shadow Cabinet.

In the Lords, he is part of the Conservative working Peers’ teams covering Europe, Treasury Affairs, Financial Regulation and Pensions. He was a member of the Lords’ EU Economic and Financial Affairs Committee until the General Election and is now a member of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee.

Currently, Howard is Chairman of Flight & Partners, Aurora (Investment Trust) and Downing Four; Director of Investec Asset Management, and of Metro Bank, the new UK challenger bank; a Commissioner (Board Member) of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, Director of Skil Ports & Logistics and Consultant to Duff & Phelps. He is also Chairman of the EISA (Enterprise Investment Scheme Association) and Consultant to TISA (The Investment and Savings Association).

Tom Harris is a Managing Director of the Investment Companies Team at Jefferies International in London. He is a trustee of the Nigel Vinson Charitable Trust in which capacity he takes a close interest in strengthening the strong links between the IEA and Buckingham University through the construction and development of the Vinson Centre for the Study of the Economic and Constitutional Foundations of a Free Society at Buckingham. Tom was the Conservative Party’s candidate for Richmond Park in the 2001 General Election.

John Longworth is now Co-Chair of Leave means Leave and was Chairman of the Vote Leave Business Council for the duration of the referendum campaign having resigned as Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce in March 2016 after nearly five years in post. Over the course of his career, John has done business on every continent and has had Executive Board positions at Asda Group and Tesco.
In 2009 he embarked on a Portfolio career and founded a science, technology and professional services business, SVA Ltd, which in 2015 employed 200 scientists and professionals when, as Chairman, he steered to a successful exit.

John also holds a number of company non-executive director positions including Board audit and risk committee, remuneration committee and has always been active in public roles including as a panel member of the Competition Commission, a Council Member of the World Chambers Federation, a Board member of the U.K. India Business Council and as Chairman of the Paris based CIES Trade and International Product Standards Committee.

Christian May is former Editor-in-Chief of City A.M., London’s daily business newspaper with a readership of just under 300,000 professionals. Prior to this appointment he was Head of Communications and Campaigns at the Institute of Directors, the UK’s largest organisation for business leaders. He was responsible for the IoD’s public profile, campaigns and media activity, and took a leading role in shaping policy on areas including EU reform, immigration, infrastructure, innovation and tax reform. As spokesperson for the IoD, Christian appeared regularly across the broadcast media and in the national press, commenting on business on economic issues. He holds a degree in Politics from the University of Exeter and a Masters degree in Journalism from London’s City University. Prior to his move into journalism was included in PR Week’s 2015 list of the 100 most influential PR professionals. He is a Freeman of the City of London, a Fellow of the British American Project and an advisory board member of the International Business and Diplomatic Exchange.

Neil Record was elected as Chairman of the IEA Board in March 2015. Neil is also Chairman of Record plc, a listed specialist currency asset manager. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and University College London, from where he holds an MSc in Economics (with distinction). His first job was as an economist at the Bank of England; this was followed by a stint in industry. In 1983, he founded Record, the firm he still chairs. He has lectured on Investment Management at Cambridge University, and is author of the first book on specialist currency management within an investment context: Currency Overlay (John Wiley & Sons, 2003). Neil has been a prime mover in attempting to improve transparency in public sector pensions in the UK, and is author or co-author of four papers on this topic, including Sir Humphrey’s Legacy (2006) published by the IEA. He is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Nuffield College, Oxford.

Alexander Temerko is a prominent British industrialist and politician. Alexander holds degrees in engineering and law. He began his professional life as leading engineer for capital construction on the USSR State Committee for Environment Preservation and was subsequently appointed director of the Forestry Ministry’s Environment Preservation Branch. A supporter of the democratic movement, following the collapse of the USSR, in 1991 Alexander Temerko was appointed junior minister to Boris Yeltsin’s cabinet. Between 1995 and 2000 he headed a united corporation that produced armaments for the Russian military. In 2000, Alexander was appointed deputy chairman to the board of directors of Yukos Oil Company. By 2005 Alexander had moved to the UK where, in 2008, he became director and deputy chairman of Newcastle-based OGN Group. OGN delivers a full range of oil and gas platforms for operations in the North Sea and is active in the development of wind farms, assembling foundations for offshore turbines. Currently, Mr. Temerko is a director of Aquind Limited, a company in charge of building and operating a major power transmission line between the United Kingdom and France.

Alexander became a British citizen in 2011 and has been a prominent member of the UK Conservative Party since 2012. He is a member of the party’s Leader’s Group and vice-chairman of the Cities of London & Westminster Conservative Association. He has regularly been involved in the local and national political campaigns and elections. A history enthusiast, he is founder and chairman of a Geneva-based charity that works to preserve world cultural heritage.

Alexander regularly contributes to major UK and international media on economic and political affairs.

Lord Nigel Vinson
Past Chairman IEA
Entrepreneur
Founded Plastic Business when 21. Floated it with 1000+ employees when 37.
Subsequently Director Queen’s Silver Jubilee Appeal
Chairman Rural Development Commission for 10 years
Main Board Director Barclays Bank
Deputy Chairman Electra Investment Trust
Chairman Fleming Income & Growth
Director numerous other companies
Appointed House of Lords for public service