Governance

Lord Kim Darroch

Lord Darroch is a retired UK civil servant and life peer in the House of Lords. His diplomatic career spanned over 40 years, primarily focusing on national security issues and European policy. Most recently, Lord Darroch served as the British Ambassador to the United States (2016-2019). Prior to Washington, he was National Security Adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron (2012-2015), and in that role, oversaw issues such as the rise of Daesh in Iraq and Syria, Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the collapse of government authority in Libya. In addition, he worked in senior roles on UK-EU policy and multilateral negotiations, including spells as Permanent Representative to the European Union (2007-2011) and as EU Adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair (2004-2007).

Dr Kamran Abbasi MB ChB, FRCP

Kamran Abbasi is a doctor, journalist, editor and broadcaster. Following five years in hospital medicine, working in various medical specialties such as psychiatry and cardiology, he moved into senior editorial roles at the British Medical Journal from 1997 to 2005. He returned to The BMJ in his role as executive editor for content, leading the journal’s strategic growth internationally, digitally, and in print. Kamran was made Editor in chief, The BMJ in December 2021.

Stephen Armstrong

Stephen Armstrong is a journalist and author. He writes extensively for the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, Wired and the Guardian. He contributes to the Radio Times and Monocle and – occasionally – Radio 4.

He has written five books: The White Island – a history of Ibiza; War plc – an investigation into the private security industry which inspired Ken Loach’s Route Irish; The Super Rich Shall Inherit the Earth – an account of the rise of oligarchs in the developing and developed world; The Road To Wigan Pier Revisited – uncovering hidden poverty in the UK; and The New Poverty – part of the Unreported Britain project.

Stephen founded the Wigan Pier Workshops, is a founder member of Bug – the journalist collective behind the successful Modern Britain talks and events in aid of homeless charity the House of St Barnabas, and is an associate member of the Free Word Centre, which promotes and protects freedom of expression. Inevitably he has a screenplay in development, where he confidently expects it to remain.

Eleni Barrett

Eleni is a writer, poet and student whose work is shaped by a deep interest in how literature and language influence the way people think about power, identity and public life. She was a 2025 winner of the Orwell Youth Prize and has been recognised as a Foyle Young Poet.

Alongside her studies, Eleni writes poetry and essays and contributes to public discussion through writing and podcasting, with a particular focus on questions of free expression, moral responsibility and the challenges facing young people in a politicised, digital culture. She is committed to encouraging young people to engage with literature and ideas, and to supporting new voices in public discussion.

Eleni is a Trainee Trustee on the Orwell Foundation Board for the academic years 2025–27.

Najma Finlay

Najma Finlay is an agent at Curtis Brown Heritage which she joined in 2025. She works with the literary estates of over 150 of the twentieth century’s finest writers – from Iris Murdoch and Elizabeth Bowen to Gerald Durrell and Douglas Adams – to celebrate, nurture and preserve their work for generations to come.

Formerly Najma was an award-winning publicist with over twenty years’ experience working across independent and large publishers, most recently Penguin Random House. As a publicist she has worked with literary and commercial bestselling authors including Robert Harris, Tony Benn, Sebastian Faulks, Ruth Rendell, Lyse Doucet and Lisa Jewell. In 2022 she was awarded the BA Sophie Christopher Publicist of the Year Award for her work with independent bookshops as recognised by the Booksellers’ Association.

Janine Gibson

Janine Gibson is editor of FT Weekend. Previously she was the FT’s head of digital projects and platforms. She joined the FT in 2019 after 4 years as Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed UK, where the team won News Website of the Year at the 2017 UK Press Awards. Prior to BuzzFeed, she was deputy editor of the Guardian, most notably launching The Guardian US in 2013 and overseeing its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Edward Snowden leaks. Her other roles at The Guardian included Media Editor and Editor of theguardian.com.

Gavin Kelly

Gavin is Chief Executive of The Nuffield Trust, having previously been Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation and Chief Executive of the Resolution Trust. Over the last 25 years, Gavin has worked across a wide range of economic and social policy areas, working in Whitehall for over a decade. He was Deputy Chief of Staff at No 10 Downing Street, a member of the Council of Economic Advisors at HM Treasury, and a senior civil servant in the Department for Education and at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit where he was Deputy Director.

In addition, Gavin is Chair of the Living Wage Commission, which sets the UK and London real Living Wage rates, and on the Board of The Political Quarterly.

Deborah Lincoln

Deborah Lincoln is a Communications, Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility professional working across the private, public and voluntary sectors. She was SVP, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs International, Warner Bros. Entertainment (2007-2020), and before that headed Communications for Pearson (then owner of FT and Penguin Books).  She was Political Adviser to Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and previously led The Labour Party’s women’s organisation, developing policy and campaigns to increase the representation of women. She also worked in senior roles for national charities including MacMillan Cancer Relief, The Prince’s Trust and Prince’s Foundation (HRH The Prince of Wales) and Friends of the Earth.

She chairs the Guildhall School Trust, is Finance Committee Chair and Trustee for Oxford School of Drama and was Chair of Watford Palace Theatre (2015-2022). She is a co-opted Board member of Political Quarterly (PQ), representing PQ as a Trustee on The Orwell Foundation. She has an MSc Econ in Politics from the LSE.

Sameer Padania

Sameer Padania runs independent consultancy Macroscope, which works with independent media, philanthropy, civil society, businesses, think tanks, & governments on strategies to defend, support & grow public interest journalism. He has worked with the Public Interest News Foundation to help communities in the UK develop Local News Plans. His reports include the Forum on Information and Democracy’s global report, calling on governments to deliver A New Deal for Journalism and he wrote a regular newsletter about the funding environment for journalism in Europe for the Journalism Funders Forum.

Andrew Peck

Andrew was a lawyer for most of his professional life and was a partner in a major City law firm. Having retired in 2007, he works part-time in the insurance industry as well as being a trustee of charities principally concerned with education. He was a trustee of the Orwell Youth Prize and has also been a trustee of the Guildhall School Trust (which raises money for, and manages the endowment funds of, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama) and was a member of its investment committee. He is also a trustee of Mary Ward Settlement, a charity based in central London which runs a college of further education and a law centre, of which he is also chair of the audit committee, and is a trustee and treasurer of Conciliation Resources, an international non-governmental organisation focused on peacebuilding in conflict zones throughout the world.

Bella Rew

Bella Rew has recently graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in English literature. She won the Orwell Youth Prize in 2021 for her poem ‘Two For Joy’ which examined the threat of climate change within the microcosm of her local community during lockdown. Since then, Bella has been an active Youth Fellow, involved in bringing to life the ‘Axial Tilt’ zine and Digitalis Archives projects. They are particularly passionate about the ways in which beautiful verse and prose can be used to elucidate complex political issues, as well as providing a powerful voice to the disenfranchised.

Bella is a Trainee Trustee on the Orwell Foundation Board for the academic years 2024-6.

Jack Sedman

Jack is SVP of governance, risk and controls at JPMorgan Chase, where he played a pivotal role launching Chase in the UK and introducing a market leading rate for savers.

Jack is a former management consultant with 15+ years’ experience deploying emerging technologies across customer-facing businesses, including Unilever, Carrefour, Eli Lilly and IKEA.

An expert in operational risk, Jack brings financial acumen to the board from more recent roles implementing robust control frameworks at major high street banks such as Lloyds and HSBC. He has a keen interest in technology as an enabler (not a substitute) for better process design, critical thinking and  communication.

Su-Mei Thompson

Su-Mei Thompson is CEO of Media Trust, a non-profit organisation which works with the media industry to give charities and young people a stronger voice while helping the media sector to be more representative.

Previously, she was CEO of The Women’s Foundation Hong Kong. She started her career as an associate at Linklaters and has held senior management positions at The Walt Disney Company and the Financial Times.

Su-Mei also serves on the English National Opera (ENO)’s Insights Council and the Supervisory Board of IMD in Lausanne.