convenor, Arts and Society Forum; former impact development officer, Birkbeck, University of London
Wendy writes on the arts and culture for spiked and is convenor of the AoI Arts and Society Forum, which promotes open and open-ended discussion of the arts and culture and of the place of arts and culture in society. Until recently she worked at Birkbeck, University of London, to promote knowledge exchange and public engagement with research in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Previously she worked in educational publishing and at the British Film Institute.
Follow Wendy on Twitter @wearliegig
lecturer, Chichester University
Simon has 26 years lecturing experience at Solent, City and Chichester Universities and has published three books and several journal articles. He is currently the coordinator of the Association for Heterodox Economics and is a trustee of the Green Economics Institute.
freelance journalist and project manager, Index on Censorship
Inaya Folarin Iman is a freelance journalist, commentator and artist. She is also the project manager for Index on Censorship’s ‘Free Speech Is For Me’ programme, a free speech advocacy project. Inaya uses her work to explore subjects in politics and philosophy, with a particular interest in civil liberties, political systems and human potential. She has featured and made appearances on BBC Sunday Politics, Vox, Sky News, BBC 5 Live Radio and many more.
partnerships manager, The Spectator
Adam is partnerships manager at The Spectator, the oldest continuously-published magazine in the world. Prior to joining The Spectator, Adam spent a year as a prison officer in the UK’s busiest jail and maintains an interest in criminal justice and rehabilitation. Prior to all this, Adam was director of external affairs for the Academy of Ideas, working at a senior level on the Debating Matters Competition and the Battle of Ideas. He led the Debating Matters Beyond Bars project at HMP Birmingham for three years and has produced debates at the Battle of Ideas on everything from dating apps to ‘killer clowns’. He is a graduate of the University of St Andrews. In his spare time Adam is a keen NFL fan and vice-captain of Black Squadron FC. His many successes since leaving school can all be traced back to his championship winning performances in Debating Matters UK and International competitions.
Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamR2312
sociology course leader, Solent University
Dr Brian McDonough is Course Leader of Sociology BA at Solent University and has written a number of articles and books, including Social Problems in the UK (2015) and Universal Basic Income (2020). He is a leading sociologist and active researcher in the UK, specialising in the area of work, technology and social inequalities.
head of corporate and community affairs, NATS
Jane is responsible for NATS’ UK political and industry relationships; corporate media relations; and engagement with local communities and the general public. Originally a newspaper journalist, she has worked across a range of internal, media and political communications roles both in-house and in consultancy. She has a wide-ranging knowledge of the aviation, transport and infrastructure sectors and is an expert in crisis communications. She has worked on policy issues as diverse as aviation policy, immigration controls, pensions, infrastructure, environmental issues, taxation and business reorganisation. She has managed major public consultations on airspace change and is currently leading NATS’ engagement on modernising UK airspace. Her aviation experience includes more than 15 years at both British Airways and NATS. She chaired the Aviation Club of the UK from 2015-18, a networking forum for the industry – rebranding it, overhauling its finances and boosting membership to more than 500 industry professionals.
author and freelance writer
Adrian was a special education tutor from 1992 to 1999, then director of Coyote Films until 2007. He is the author of The Myth of Racist Kids (2009) Leave the Kids Alone (2011) and is now writing a follow up to his latest book That’s Racist! (2014). He writes for spiked and campaigns in Brighton on housing matters and for independent (ie. non-party) politics at local level. He stood as an independent candidate in the May 2019 local elections and blogs at www.adrianhart.com.
welding student, Brighton Salon
Sean Bell is a former journalist who, for many years, ran The Brighton Salon, an independent discussion and debating group that was free to attend. He is now a welding student.
author; former director, the Royal Collection
Jonathan Marsden worked for the National Trust in North Wales and Oxfordshire before joining the Royal Household in 1996 as Deputy Surveyor of The Queen’s Works of Art. He served as Director of the Royal Collection from 2010-17, with overall responsibility for the care and public presentation of the Collection and for public access to the Royal Palaces. He is currently working on a complete catalogue of sculpture in the Royal Collection.
journalist and author
Annabel Venning is a journalist and author. Formerly on the staff of the Daily Mail, she left in 2003 to write her first book, Following the Drum: the Lives of Army Wives and Daughters. In September she published her second book, The War With the Walkers: Three Soldiers, the War Bride, the Nurse and a Doctor, One Family’s Extraordinary Story of the Second World War – about her own family’s wartime experiences, from the Blitz to the battlefields of Burma and Italy, and prisoner of war camps of World War Two. It was named as one of the Books of the year in The Telegraph, The Times, the Mail and Mail on Sunday. She is currently working on a third book as well as writing features and ghost-writing for newspapers. She lives in Wiltshire with her family. She is a Sherborne Old Girl.
