The National Liberal Club Commonwealth and European Forum Steering Committees

Lord Monroe Palmer, OBE
President
Commonwealth Forum

Monroe became a Liberal Democrat Peer in January 2011. He is a Deputy Speaker in House of Lords.

He is an active member of Liberal Democrat Parliamentary International Affairs committee and the Business and Treasury committee (drawing on his experience as a Chartered Accountant). He is the Liberal Democrat Spokesman on Taxation in the House of Lords.

Monroe speaks in The Lords on Local Government including Housing, International Affairs, Business, Taxation.

He has a longstanding interest in achieving lasting peace in the Middle East and is a regular speaker on this and also on matters of concern to the UK Jewish Community. He sits on Liberal Democrat International Affairs Team. He was a Councillor on Barnet Council, first elected in 1986 and retired from the Council in May 2014. He Chaired the Audit committee (only committee chaired by an opposition Councillor); he also sat on Area Environment Committee and Standards Committee. For many years he was a Director of Barnet Homes.

Monroe was the first Liberal councillor in Barnet when he was elected in 1986 as part of The Alliance. Stood for GLC in 1970.

He was Treasurer of The Liberal Party and Liberal Parliamentary Party 1976 to 1983 and widely credited as having made the Party solvent. Administrator of Liberal Pension Funds 1976 to 1983.  Member of the Party's General Election Campaign Committee 1979 & 1983 and Treasurer of London Region Liberal Democrats 2008 and 2009.

Former Treasurer of Barnet's Association for the Disabled and has served as a Trustee and Governor of a number of local Trusts and schools.
Parliamentary Elections: Fought Hastings & Rye 1992 and 1997. Fought Hendon South Parliamentary seat in 1979, 1983 and 1987.

Baroness Sal Brinton
President
European Forum

Trevor Peel
Chair
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Trevor joined the National Liberal Club in 2011 and was elected to the General Committee in 2014.  He serves on the General Purposes and Membership Committees. With colleagues, Trevor established the annual National Liberal Club Diplomatic Reception.

A nurse by profession, with a clinical, managerial career in the NHS and internationally, as a Director of the Royal College of Nursing, before joining the Cabinet Office (Charter Mark Unit) as a civil servant, and then moving to HM Prison Service as a direct entry Prison Governor (at HMP Belmarsh), until retirement.

Trevor is also a former chair of the Independent Review Panel for Continuing Health Care, NHS England (2003-2014), and a former Mental Health Act Commissioner for England & Wales. Now a director of Amber Housing and the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, he also serves on the International Committee of the Royal College of Nursing and is a member of the Liberal Democrats and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

Trevor’s interests include travelling (having worked in Guatemala & Honduras in the 1970’s), reading, and the theatre.  

James Brown
Honorary Vice President
Commonwealth Forum
Member of the European Forum

James joined the National Liberal Club in 2013 and was elected to the General Committee in 2017. James is an active member at the club and has joined many of the NLC Commonwealth and European Forum’s delegations over the years, including to Ireland and Northern Ireland, India, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Malta, and Brussels.

James is an educational consultant who has held a number of different senior pastoral care posts in an educational career spanning over a period of 35 years.

James also has experience as Non-Executive Director for Mental Health First Aid and he regularly speaks to businesses and schools on Mental Health issues. He recently chaired the joint Commonwealth and European Forum Event: Mental Health and the Coronavirus which can be found on our Media Page or the National Liberal Club’s YouTube Channel.

Finally, James is involved in voice-over work and can currently be heard on some lines of the London Underground. Remember to “stand clear of the doors", especially on the District and Circle Lines! He enjoys travel and is an optimistic Tottenham Hotspur shareholder and supporter.

Nick Hopkinson
Vice Chair
European Forum
Member of the Commonwealth Forum

Nick joined the National Liberal Club in 2016. He has been active in the NLC Commonwealth and Europe Forums since their foundation.

Nick is a passionate pro-European and has served as chair of the Liberal Democrat European Group and on the European Movement national executive. He spoke and debated on 30 separate occasions throughout the UK advocating the case to remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum campaign, and now campaigns for closer relations with the EU, and eventually re-joining it. Nick has been widely published in the New European, Financial Times, Liberal Democrat Voice, County Times, and London4Europe. 

During his 23-year career at Wilton Park, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s policy forum, Nick progressed to Director, including acting as chief executive for a year. Inter alia he chaired high level Track II seminars which helped facilitate the accession of 10 Central and Southern European countries.
He has written more than 100 policy reports, largely on EU issues, and has spoken in the UK, EU, and the Americas. His book Parliamentary democracy: is there a perfect model? was published in 2001.

Emily Robinson
Vice Chair, Media
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Emily joined the NLC in 2015 and then both the Commonwealth and European Forum Steering Committees in 2017. She is the Chief Operating and Financial Officer at Pico Analytics – working on Sustainability Disclosures, Climate Risk impact and ESG Regulations into Asset Management, Pension Fund, and Hedge Fund strategies.

Emily is passionate about solving the climate crisis and recently earned an Accredited Master in Renewable Energy from the Renewable Energy Institute at the European Centre of Technology, in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). She has a Certificate in Business Sustainability Management from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

In 2017, Emily was trained by Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore as a Certified Climate Reality Project Leader in order to promote education and understanding about climate change.

In 2020, Emily joined as a Trustee to the Board of Bread and Water for Africa UK and the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, representing them at COP26 in Glasgow. She was elected Honorary Secretary of CHEC in November 2021. Most recently, Emily was elected to the board of Portuguese Animal Charity Associação Ninovan.

Elizabeth Negus
Vice Chair, Membership & Diversity
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Elizabeth joined the NLC in 2016 and was elected to the General Committee in 2018. She serves on various working groups such as Diversity Working Group and Reciprocal Club Working Group. Elizabeth was among the six members who under the leadership of Mr Trevor Peel launched the National Liberal Club Commonwealth Forum.

Elizabeth is Vice Chair of the NLC Commonwealth Forum (Diversity & Membership) and Vice Chair of the NLC European Forum (Diversity & Membership). An Educator by profession, author and International Conference Speaker, Elizabeth sits on educational boards to promote excellence in teaching, learning and assessments. She is Vice Chair of Clementswood Federation Governance and sits on the Social Committee and Membership Committee Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Educators.

She is currently a judge for the English Speaking Union - Churchill Public Speaking Competition. Elizabeth’s interests include reading, the arts, chess, and classical music.

Subbu Loganathan
Vice Chair, Events & Communications
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Subbu joined the NLC in 2014 and has been part of the Commonwealth Forum and European Forum steering committees since 2017. He is also a member of the Business Forum and has been a part of the General Purposes Committee (GPC) since 2020.

Subbu has over 18 years of experience within investment banking, asset management, and within sustainable finance for firms such as Barclays, JP Morgan, and HSBC. His experience and expertise have helped in cultivating connections and relationships within a wide spectrum of geographies and industries.

Subbu is a member of the Governing Board for the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council (CHEC), a Commonwealth accredited organization, a member of the UK-Malta Business Network, the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK, an associate member of the Investment Association (IA), a member of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), and the Jersey Funds Association (JFA).

Hayden Greenfield
Honorary Secretary
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Hayden joined the National Liberal Club as a non-political member in 2017 and was appointed Honorary Secretary of the Commonwealth and European Forum after being an active member for over 3 years.

Hayden is a government economist with experience of working in No10, the Cabinet Office, and the Office for National Statistics. During his time in Cabinet Office’s Economic Domestic Secretariat (EDS), Hayden explored deprivation across the UK and established a senior data group tasked with the improvement of subnational statistics. Whilst seconded to the No10 Net Zero Task Force, Hayden developed statistics and data models to aid the prioritisation of policies for the UK’s Net Zero Strategy.

Hayden is passionate about diplomacy and enjoys travelling to new countries, learning languages and experiencing different cultures. In his spare time, Hayden is a keen runner and likes to develop his data science skills to unlock economic insights into countries around the world.

Ella Slack
Honorary Vice President
Commonwealth Forum

Ella joined the National Liberal Club in 2004, and is a life member. She previously worked at BBC Television, for 37 years, and as BBC Television Manager of Sport & Events Group for 17 years.

Since retiring to Isle of Man in 1999, Ella has been an active member of the Commonwealth and European Forum Steering Committees. Ella joined the delegations to Ireland and Northern Ireland, India, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Malta, and Brussels, and was integral in the recent visit to the Isle of Man.

During the visit to the Educational Institutes in Sanghol, supported by the Lord Rana Foundation, Ella was inspired to support their work. She was instrumental in the fundraising event in which the Commonwealth Forum raised £850 for the organisation.

Rosie MacLeod
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Rosie joined the NLC in 2015 and has participated in the Commonwealth Forum’s delegation trips to Malta (2016) and Cyprus (2018).

As a rare Brit who speaks German and French, she works as a freelance translator and has over ten years’ experience of translation and consecutive interpreting experience. She also pursues freelance assignments with radio, writing and journalism.

Her work has been featured on Making Contact Radio in California and East London Radio and in Drunk Monkeys, World Literature Today and Women on Writing.  

To read some of Rosie’s fantastic work, please check out the link here.  

Freda Graf
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Freda joined the NLC in 2015 and went to India in 2018 with the Commonwealth Forum.

Freda is a retired nurse and midwife, working in both clinical, managerial, and teaching roles before joining Medecins Sans Frontieres where she worked on missions in Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Dafur.

Freda has been a trustee with several charities in Africa and is now a Trustee of a home for disabled children in Bhola Island, Bangladesh.

Freda was elected as the first Liberal Democrat Borough Councillor in her ward in Wilmslow, Cheshire and she continues to the support the party especially at election time.

Freda has a passion for travelling especially in the more remote parts of the globe.  She finds nothing more exciting than travelling up the river Speke in a wooden canoe; or roaming  alone along the Silk Road, the depths of China or exploring Bolivia and Paraguay.

Saamir Mahmud
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Born in Pakistan in his hometown, Karachi, Saamir lived in Pakistan till he went to the United States where he studied Greek and Roman mythology before moving to the United Kingdom. Educated at both Cambridge and Oxford, Saamir is a Member of Lincolns Inn and is a practising Barrister, specialising in Domestic Violence, Child Law, Refugee and Immigration.

Saamir chairs the Bridge Circle at the Liberal Club and is on the General Committee of the NLC. He is a Member of the Oscar Wilde Society, the Terence Rattigan Society and the Library Playreading Group in Leytonstone, which has been running since the 1950s.

Nadia Montasser
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Nadia joined the club in 2018 and became the youngest member of the NLC Board in 2021. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the NLC’s Marketing and Communications Committee. Originally from Egypt, Nadia moved to London nearly a decade ago. She has a Master’s degree in Charity Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, with 17 years’ experience in Project Management, Translation, Social Media & Website Management, and Events Coordination.

Nadia worked for many years at the British Council in Egypt and is passionate about building mutually beneficial reciprocal relations between countries, which drew her to the NLC Commonwealth & NLC European forums.

Nadia is a committee member of the Oscar Wilde Society. She was a very early animal rights activists in Egypt, having managed many successful regional campaigns and protests in collaboration with local and international animal rights organisations, and winning many awards in the process.

Peter Douglas Banks
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Peter is the International Officer of Young Liberals, the youth and student wing of the Liberal Democrats. He has been active in the Young Liberals' International Office for six years, having previously sat on their International Committee. During this time, Peter has attended many international events, variously on behalf of Young Liberals, the Liberal Democrats, and the United Kingdom; from the Congresses of IFLRY and LYMEC to working as an election observer in Azerbaijan at their last elections.

Peter’s main interests lie in Central and South-eastern Europe, and the British Overseas Territories. He is also a member and activist in the youth wings of liberal parties in The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.

Peter is currently living and studying in The Hague, where he is reading for a BA in International Studies and German from the University of Leiden.

Benedikt Barthelmess
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Benedikt Barthelmess joined the National Liberal Club in 2019 and has been a member of the of the Commonwealth Forum and European Forum steering committees since 2020.

Benedikt is the chair of the Morocco planning group for the NLC European Forum’s visit in 2023.

Nicola Williams
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Velson Horie
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Dr. William Wong
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Christine Brennan
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Roger Pillai
Steering Committee Member
Commonwealth Forum
European Forum

Rupert Morris
Honorary Vice President
European Forum

Janet Berridge
Honorary Vice President
European Forum

Kamalesh Sharma KCVO
Honorary Vice President
Commonwealth Forum