health policy analyst, writer, broadcaster and commentator
Roy is an independent health policy analyst, writer, broadcaster and commentator on health and social issues. He has contributed to a wide variety of radio and TV programmes and news. He has written widely, including Guardian, Telegraph, Sunday Times.
Roy has a wide variety of experience in healthcare and in the NHS, and has twice been voted top UK speaker on NHS topics. He is the author of over twenty books on health and health service management. He is a Freeman of the City of London, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
He is a guitarist and magician and often uses these talents in his presentations. In 2005 he started ballroom dancing and has a bronze medal in ballroom and Latin American dancing.
Corporate Affairs Manager, PwC UK
David manages media relations & external communications for a number of areas relating to PwC’s purpose and reputation in the UK, having previously worked in global communications both for PwC and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Prior to this he was associate director of the Academy of Ideas and a convenor of the Battle of Ideas festival in the UK & Europe.
He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Exeter and takes a keen interest in the arts, culture and politics. He also took part in the first ever Debating Matters national competition as a student, and definitely prefers asking the tough questions in comparison to answering them!
Tom is a Researcher in the Children and Families (and education) team at the National Centre for Social Research. He previously worked for opinion polling company Survation over the 2017 election, and has taught debating and history in China, Hong Kong and Cambodia. He is very interested in politics and education policy.
Insurance supervisor, Bank of England
Dr Nicholas Silk is an insurance supervisor at the Bank of England. He previously worked as a research scientist but after nine years of student life he got sick of toiling in a lab and made an unexpected career move into financial regulation. He loves going to the opera, playing Bach on the electric piano and going for runs around London parks.
Solicitor, Womble Bond Dickinson; DM alumnus
Jake is a solicitor at Womble Bond Dickinson specialising in banking and finance, with experience of managing and assisting on a variety of transactions including debt, asset, and real estate finance deals.
Jake is a Debating Matters alumnus, having competed in 2009 where he won the ‘highly commended’ prize at the national final.
Outside work, Jake is a (reasonably) competitive cyclist and currently holds two Road Records Association records. The most recent of which is the record for the fastest time from Edinburgh to York.
Office of the Group Chairman, HSBC
Greg became involved with debating and public speaking at school and was on the team that won the ESU National Public Speaking Competition in 2000. Since then he has used the skills he learned to talk his way into Cambridge, a scholarship to live in Japan, and jobs with the UN, solicitors Herbert Smith, and since 2009 on the International Management Programme at HSBC, where he is currently working for the group chairman.
co-founder, The Liverpool Salon; former director, Belfast Exposed Photography
Pauline Hadaway has worked in arts and education since 1990 and is co-founder of The Liverpool Salon, which organises public debates on a range of topics.
As director of Belfast Exposed Photography between 2000 and 2013, she oversaw its transformation from a community photography resource into an internationally renowned gallery of contemporary photography. In her doctoral research at the University of Manchester, Pauline explored different uses of arts, heritage and culture as tools for peace building and economic and social reconstruction in Northern Ireland. She is currently part of a team based at the University of Liverpool researching uses of art in conflict transformation.
She has been published widely, including Policing the Public Gaze (2009), a report for the campaign group The Manifesto Club; Re-imagining Titanic, re-imaging Belfast in Relaunching Titanic: memory and marketing in the ‘post -conflict city’ (2013) and Escaping the Panopticon, a chapter in Photography Reframed: visions in photographic culture, published by I.B. Tauris (2019). Her latest publication is Callaghan and Northern Ireland a chapter in James Callaghan: An Underrated Prime Minister, co-authored with Kevin Bean (2020).
deputy leader SDP; actuary
Hilary is an actuary who co-founded First Actuarial over 20 years ago and retains some ownership in it. That business now employs over 500 people across the UK. Whilst there, she worked closely with trade unions and employers and large public service pension schemes. She also developed the ground-breaking collective DC pension scheme with the Communication Workers Union and Royal Mail which opened last year.
In May 2024, she took a step back from the business to run (unsuccessfully) in the General Election for the Social Democratic Party and subsequently took on the challenge of becoming its first deputy leader. She is also a member of the Council of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
Hilary has two grown-up sons, a labradoodle, a lovingly tended garden, a VW campervan and a season ticket to Old Trafford.
Follow Hilary on X/Twitter: @redactuary
journalist and psychologist; author, Die Steinzeit steckt uns in den Knochen
Thilo Spahl is a journalist and psychologist. He has published widely on issues relating to science and technology. Two of his books (Leben, Natur Wissenschaft – alles, was man wissen muss and Die Steinzeit steckt uns in den Knochen) have been listed on the Spiegel bestseller list. He is married with two children and lives in Berlin.
pastor, EKBO (Protestant Church of Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia) / Protestant Parish of Luckenwalde
Jonathan grew up in different parts of Brandenburg, studied mostly in Berlin and Prague, before deciding to work with people in a very diverse and creative job environment. Jonathan has been a lay judge and was a youth worker, but has now been a pastor for the last three years.
