Biographies

Will Straw – @wdjstraw – is Editor of Left Foot Forward. He has worked for the Center for American Progress and HM Treasury. He was a 2007-08 Fulbright Scholar and is a former President of the Oxford University Student Union.  ARCHIVE

Shamik Das @shamikdas is Assistant Editor of Left Foot Forward. He is a freelance journalist and former news editor of the London-wide student paper London Student. His biggest passion is watching, playing and commenting on cricket.

Tony Dolphin writes for Left Foot Forward on economics. He is senior economist at the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) and has previously worked for the Treasury and Department for Education.

Graeme Cooke writes on welfare and labour market policy. He is head of the Open Left project at Demos and was expert advisor to the Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions between 2008 and 2009.

Frank Spring writes for Left Foot Forward on defence and foreign policy. He has a background in policy, politics, and non-profits, and is currently a change and innovation consultant in New York and Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and KCL’s world-renowned Department of War Studies.

Patrick Bury also writes on defence and foreign policy. Patrick is a former captain in the Royal Irish regiment who has fought in Afghanistan, and is author of the upcoming Simon&Schuster book “Callsign Hades”.

Sarah Mulley writes on immigration policy. She is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) and has previously worked for the UK Aid Network, the Global Economic Governance Programme, and HM Treasury.

Joss Garman writes on the environment. He is a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace and a co-founder of Plane Stupid. Joss is blogging in a personal capacity.

Rupert Read @RupertRead writes on environmental and social policy. Rupert is a Green Party councillor in Norwich and a Reader in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia where he specialises in environmental and political philosophy and analysis of propaganda. He blogs at Rupert’s Read.

Casper ter Kuile @cterkuile writes on international climate policy. He is Co-Director of the UK Youth Climate Coalition and a recent University of Warwick graduate. He now supports Solitaire Townsend’s work at Futerra Sustainability Communications.

Johanna Thomas-Corr writes on education policy. She is a freelance writer and journalist, was formerly arts editor of City Am newspaper, and has written on education, religion and business. She is currently writing her first novel, set in a state school.

Martin McCluskey @martinmccluskey writes on education policy. He is an assistant policy adviser for a large public body and was President of the Oxford University Students Union.

Oli de Botton also writes on education policy. He is a former assistant head teacher at a challenging London comprehensive and a graduate of the Teach First scheme. He is currently an education consultant.

Dr Asif Sange writes on health issues. He works as a hospital doctor in the NHS and has done for five years, after graduating from Dundee Medical School – currently he is based at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Asif is a Labour Party activist and works part time as a research assistant for Lord Patel of Blackburn.

Nicola Smith writes on labour market issues. She is a Senior Policy Officer in the TUC Economic and Social Affairs Department, and is a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee. She also writes at Touchstone.

Sarah Ismail is a physically DisAbled blogger, poet and journalist. She edits her personal blog, Same Difference, which covers all kinds of issues relating to physical disability. She is a staff writer for Society Today Magazine, a social interest publication based in London, and a Trustee of the Nihal Armstrong Trust, a small charity which provides grants to children with Cerebral Palsy. Sarah writes for Left Foot Forward on physical disability.

Mark Thompson @MarkReckons writes for Left Foot Forward on drugs policy and electoral reform. He is an award-winning Liberal Democrat blogger who writes the Mark Reckons blog. He is a company director of Southfacing Services, an energy efficiency consultancy and software company.

Anthony Zacharzewski @demsoc also writes on local government. He runs the Democratic Society, which works to support participation and citizenship, but writes here in a personal capacity. In a previous life, he was a senior officer in both local and central government. He lives in Brighton.

Ed Jacobs writes on devolved and local government. He works as a political consultant at the only Northern based consultancy, The Public Affairs Company. Ed has previously helped establish and run a student news website therundown.co.uk.

Paul Evans @paul0evans1 writes about representative democracy and decentralisation. Paul is a London-based blogger with a mixed track-record over at Never Trust a Hippy and the Local Democracy Blog.

Anthony Painter @anthonypainter writes for Left Foot Forward on foreign policy. He is a writer and blogger. He is author of “Barack Obama: The Movement for Change.”

Marcus Roberts writes for Left Foot Forward on defence. He is a campaigns consultant and foreign policy analyst. In the 2008 election he was an Obama Volunteer Organiser in Ohio having lost elections on Democratic campaigns in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.

David Taylor @DavidTaylor85 writes on development policy. He is Chair of the Labour Campaign for International Development. He formerly worked as a Campaigner for Oxfam and Wada Na Todo – the national campaign against poverty in India – and as a student activist with People & Planet on Fairtrade.

Laura Wood writes for Left Foot Forward on human rights. She used to work for the Aspen Institute supporting Mary Robinson’s work and has lived in both Washington, DC and New York.