Speakers at The Freedom Zone
Caroline Boin
Environment programme director at International Policy Network.
Douglas Carswell MP
Member of parliament for Harwich.
Simon Clark
Director of the smokers’ lobby group Forest and founder of The Free Society.
Therese Coffey
Prospective European parliamentary candidate for the South East.
Iain Dale
Former chief of staff to David Davis MP (see below), and now one of Britain’s leading political bloggers with a fortnightly column in the Daily Telegraph. Founder of Politicos bookshop and author or editor of nearly 30 books.
Philip Davies MP
Member of parliament for Shipley and a member of The Freedom Association Council.
The Rt Hon David Davis MP
Member of parliament for Haltemprice and Howden; former shadow home secretary and, before that, Conservative party chairman and shadow deputy prime minister. Recently sought re-election with the intention of provoking a wider debate about the perceived erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom. He won with 72 per cent of the vote.
Suzy Dean
Co-organiser of the Manifesto Club. Writer and journalist who regularly contributes to a number of publications, including Spiked and Open Democracy, on the subject of public space and democracy.
Alex Deane
Barrister and author of The Great Abdication: Why Britain's Decline is the Fault of the Middle Class. A World Universities debating champion and former chief of staff to David Cameron.
Nadine Dorries MP
Member of parliament for Mid Bedfordshire. A former nurse and former director of BUPA. Currently vice-chair of the all party parliamentary group for further education and lifelong learning.
Matthew Elliott
Chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
Michael Fallon MP
Member of parliament for Sevenoaks and senior Conservative member of the Treasury Select Committee and chairman of the Treasury Sub-Committee.
Claire Fox
Director of the Institute of Ideas, regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze and convenor of the annual Battle of Ideas festival.
Jean-Paul Floru
Prospective European parliamentary candidate for London.
Shane Frith
Director of Progressive Vision, a new liberal think-tank. Also founder and director of Doctors’ Alliance, a pan-European network of medical professionals seeking better ways to deliver healthcare.
Daniel Hannan MEP
Conservative MEP for the South East.
Nigel Hastilow
Regional director, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Simon Heffer
Columnist and associate editor for the Daily Telegraph. Author of biographies of the pamphleteer Thomas Carlyle, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the politician Enoch Powell
Roger Helmer MEP
Conservative MEP for the East Midlands and chairman of The Freedom Association.
Phil Hendren
Leading Conservative blogger aka "Dizzy Thinks".
Jonathan Isaby
Editor of the Daily Telegraph's Three-Line Whip column, co-author of Boris v. Ken, and recently appointed co-editor of Conservative Home.
Syed Kamall MEP
Conservative MEP for London.
Ruth Lea
Director of Global Vision and non-executive director and economic adviser to Arbuthnot Banking Group.
Simon Marcus
Co-founder of the London Boxing Academy and now the organisation’s secretary. Based in Brussels and is working to raise awareness of the London Boxing Academy Partnership Project which seeks to re-integrate excluded youths in Tottenham.
Rupert Matthews
Prospective European parliamentary candidate for the East Midlands
Brian Monteith
Formerly chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students and Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament, the 'Shock Jock' is now policy director of The Free Society and a regular columnist - when he's not helping Africa privatise its economy.
Chris Mounsey
Freelance graphic designer and prominent political blogger ("Devil's Kitchen"). Founder member and head of communications for the recently formed UK Libertarian Party.
James Panton
Co-organiser of the Manifesto Club. Writes regularly for the mainstream media on issues around education, politics, democracy and participation, as well as representing the Manifesto Club on national radio and television. By day James is a politics tutor at St John's College, Oxford where he works on intellectual and political history.
The Rt Hon John Redwood MP
Member of parliament for Wokingham and chairman of the Economic Competitiveness Policy Group. Secretary of State for Wales from 1993 to 1995. In opposition he has acted as shadow secretary of state for trade and industry (1997-1999), shadow secretary of state for the environment, transport and the regions (1999-2000) and shadow secretary of state for deregulation (2004-2005). Stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995 and again in 1997.
Paul Staines
Britain's most popular political blogger (aka "Guido Fawkes"). Formerly creator of Popular Propaganda, a libertarian marketing enterprise, and a former member of the Committee for a Free Britain.
Stuart Wheeler
Retired businessman and a leading Conservative party donor who earlier this year lost his legal challenge to Gordon Brown's decision to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. A keen gambler, he once took part in the World Poker Championships in Las Vegas.
John Whittingdale OBE MP
Member of parliament for Maldon and East Chelmsford. Former political secretary to Margaret Thatcher when she was prime minister, now chairman of the House of Commons' Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, one of three parliamentary representatives on the board of the Conservative party, and vice-chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee.
Zehra Zaidi
Prospective European parliamentary candidate for the South West.
