CEF Forum Executive Officers and Patrons come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds including individuals with experience of politics, business and law.
We have always enjoyed significant support from members of both Houses of Parliament.
David Lidington
President
David Lidington represented Aylesbury in the House of Commons for almost 28 years before retiring at the 2019 General Election.
After holding a number of shadow ministerial posts, he entered government in 2010 as Minister for Europe at the Foreign and
Ros Altmann
Vice President
Ros Altmann sits as a Conservative Peer in the House of Lords. She is a leading pensions expert, with over 35 years’ experience in all aspects of pensions and was UK Minister of State for Pensions.
John Bowis
Vice President
John Bowis OBE served as a Member of the European Parliament for London from 1999 until stepping down in 2009. Before his election to the European Parliament, John was the MP for Battersea and a Minister in John Major's Government.
Alistair Burt
Vice President
Alistair entered Parliament for the first time in 1983 for Bury North and between 2001 and 2019 he served as the Member of Parliament for North East Bedfordshire.
Dirk Hazell
Vice President
A barrister, Dirk drafted the EU single market plan then pursued by Margaret Thatcher. Having been General Counsel of an investment bank, he led the euro-capital market through its first EU sectoral legislation. He is a former Conservative parliamentary c
Antonio Lopez Isturiz
Vice President
Antonio López-Istúriz White is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), representing the Spanish centre-right People’s Party (Partido Popular). He is also Secretary Treasurer of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies (WMCES)
Stephen Hammond
Chair
Stephen Hammond was the Member of Parliament for Wimbledon from 2005-2024. He previously served in Government as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport (2012-14) and Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care
Liz Spencer
Deputy Chair
In the first European Referendum Liz was National Chair of Students for a United Europe. She co-founded and ran the largest, independent, European public policy company with offices in 20 countries.
Julian Samways
Treasurer
Julian Samways is a former Conservative parliamentary candidate and Assessor for those wishing to join the parliamentary candidates’ list.
Tim Skeet
Secretary
Tim Skeet has been a long-standing pro-European member of the Conservative Party and former pro-remain activist.
Michael Cluff
Membership Secretary
Michael Cluff is a consultant with worldwide experience in marketing communications. He has had a long term belief in international co-operation going back to the 1975 referendum campaign.
Ian Berridge
Executive
After service in the British Army Ian Berridge became a management consultant working in strategy and risk for international logistics and telecommunications companies. He now runs a rural enterprise and supports pro-European politics.
Simon Saunders
Executive
Denzil Davidson
Executive
Denzil Davidson has served former Conservative Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries as an adviser on British/EU relations and European politics for over a decade, including as a special adviser to former PM Theresa May
Dominic Grieve
Executive
The Rt. Hon Dominic Grieve KC is a barrister and was the MP for Beaconsfield from 1997 to 2019. He was the Shadow Attorney General from 2003-09, Shadow Home Secretary from 2008-09, Shadow Justice Secretary from 2009-10 and Attorney-General from 2010–2014.
Mark Leverton
Executive
Mark Leverton has been active in Conservative Party & European politics since he was a student & in CEF since the 2016 EU Referendum. He held senior executive positions in a leading international consumer goods company in London, Brussels & Hong Kong.
David Westover
Executive
David Westover is a communications consultant, focusing on financial communications for international companies. He has been involved in the Conservative Party for over forty years, as an activist and Constituency Association officer.
Martin Smith
Executive
Martin Smith is a management consultant working on strategy, growth, and pricing issues for leading companies. He has experience of Centre-Right politics across the UK and Europe and is a Conservative councillor in Devon.
Peter Wilde
Executive
Peter Wilde has been actively involved nationally and locally in the Conservative Party since he was a student at the LSE, including working for a number of years at Conservative Central Office and serving as a Constituency chair.
Patrons:
- Rt Hon Lord Clarke of Nottingham CH QC
- Rt Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben
- Rt Hon Damian Green
- Rt Hon Lord Heseltine of Thenford CH
- Rt Hon Lord Hunt of Wirral MBE
- Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell CH CBE
- Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate
- Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH ACIB
- Rt Hon Sir Richard Needham
- Rt Hon Amber Rudd
- Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes CH
- Ian Taylor MBE
- Robert Walter
- Clive Watson