The Bright Blue team

Ryan Shorthouse

Director

Ryan is the Director of Bright Blue. He is also the editor of The Progressive Conscience, Bright Blue's magazine. Ryan works for the Social Market Foundation, a leading think-tank, and is a Trustee of the Daycare Trust. He has been a researcher for Rt Hon David Willetts MP, where he authored the Conservative Party's Childhood Review, and an adviser to the Shadow Minister for the Family, formulating Conservative party policy and managing media relations. He was the Political Secretary of the Bow Group, a centre-right think tank. Ryan writes regularly for national newspapers and magazines on social affairs and has expertise in a number of policy areas including education, welfare and early years

Alexandra Jezeph

Alexandra is responsible for developing and managing the Bright Blue Advisory Board. Whilst at university, Alexandra undertook research which explored issues arising from housing and planning policy. Her master's thesis examined the role and contribution of SME's to the UK economy and the capacity of government policy to stimulate business, innovation and entrepreneurship. Alexandra is employed by Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate company. She has recently gained a qualification in urban design and is a licentiate member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. She is also Chair of the Conservative discussion organisation, the Coningsby Club.

Tim Flagg

As group secretary Tim will be primarily concerned with co-ordinating the day to day running of the group, liaising with and managing the teams utilising his project management experience. Tim will be in charge of developing the brand materials and website development. Tim combines 11 years of experience of marketing and communications and several years as a political activist on a local and national level, with a particular focus on online.

Guy Stagg

Guy runs the Bright Blue blog. He became involved with Bright Blue as an opportunity to counter the automatic cynicism with which many people view politics. Guy worked at CCHQ during the 2010 election, and before that wrote articles and essays for the New Culture Forum think tank. He is currently the Online Lifestyle Editor at the Telegraph.

Phil Clarke

Phil works on the website and events for Bright Blue. He set up and runs CityButler, a city-based concierge firm. He is passionate about the ways government could encourage entrepreneurship as a solution to the current downturn and future of the economy. Before founding CityButler he worked for a leading executive search firm focussing on board-level appointments in the media industry.

Liam Scott-Smith

Liam works with potential partners of Bright Blue and along with the rest of the team helps to shape its overall direction. He has previously worked in Parliament and currently works for the think tank New Local Government Network, where he has authored 'Alt, Insert or Delete' a critical analysis of Conservative decentralisation policy. Liam is also a former Bow Group council member and experienced political campaigner.

Jonathan Algar

Jonathan is Bright Blue's Treasurer. After completing a Masters in Computational and Mathematical Economics at University College London he joined Goldman Sachs International as an Analyst on the Principal Strategies desk. In addition to his desk duties he was a corporate delegate to Chatham House and Policy Exchange, representing the firm at cross-industry roundtables. He left the firm to pursue other opportunities in Private Equity in September 2011. He has written on economic and foreign policy. Jonathan is also a Partner in 'Generation 2 Generation', London's premier non-partisan young professionals network.

Rebecca Kerr

Rebecca is the university representative for Bright Blue, helping to forge relationships between students and Bright Blue members. She was previously an intern for Bright Blue and has had previous experience working for MPs in their constituencies and at Portcullis House. She is interested in the unique perspective Bright Blue offers in fighting against governments becoming myopic, as well Bright Blue's mission of supporting social mobility and social justice. Rebecca is currently in her second year at Durham University studying Politics and looking to specialise in Middle Eastern studies.

Sam Nassiri

Sam is responsible for developing Bright Blue's long term web strategy and assisting Phil with the day to day managing of the website. He was previously the intern at Bright Blue and joined the team in October 2011. Sam's main interests lie in the improvement of education standards and increasing social mobility. Sam is a national spokesman for increasing Higher Education access and has spoken on behalf of Teach First and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. Sam is currently on a Gap year and looks to read Politics at University starting in 2012.

Rt Hon David Willetts MP

President

Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science, is President of the Advisory Board of Bright Blue.

A former Paymaster General, and Shadow Secretary of State for departments including Education and Skills, Work & Pensions and Trade & Industry, he is one of the most respected Conservative thinkers of recent times. David's most recent, and much acclaimed book "The Pinch" (published in February 2010) caused him to be labelled by the Guardian "a one-man thinktank right under David Cameron's nose".

Rt Hon Theresa May was elected MP for Maidenhead in 1997 and has become one of the UK's foremost female politicians. A Privy Councillor since 2003, her career saw her hold positions in every shadow cabinet since 1999 before her appointment as Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality. She spoke passionately on the subject of equality at Bright Blue's first event, and is a valued supporter and advisor to the group.

Rt Hon James Arbuthnot is the MP for North East Hampshire and was Minister of State for Defence Procurement in the 1990s. Since 2005, he has been Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. Before entering parliament, James was a barrister.

Nick Boles was elected MP for Grantham and Stamford in 2010. He is PPS to the Schools Minister Nick Gibb and sits on the Select Committee for Political and Constitutional Affairs. Before entering parliament he was a banker, paint brush entrepreneur and local councillor. He set up Policy Exchange, the influential centre-right think tank. In September 2010, he published his first book "Which Way's Up? The future for coalition Britain and how to get there" which set out a 10 year programme for the Coalition Government and advocates an electoral pact between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats at the 2015 election.

Charlotte Leslie is the MP for Bristol North West and is a member of the House of Commons Education Select Committee. Charlotte was previously a Special Adviser to the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, a researcher for Policy Exchange and editor of Crossbow, the Bow Group's magazine.

Damian Hinds is the MP for East Hampshire and is a member of the House of Commons Education Select Committee. Damian was the chairman of the Bow Group and has held senior management positions in the hotel and brewing industries.

Margot James was elected MP for Stourbridge in May 2010, having previously served as a Councillor and Vice-Chair of the Conservative Party for Women. Margot sits on the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee and recently served on the Health and Social Care Bill Committee. Prior to entering politics, Margot worked in the PR and medical education business and co-founded her own company, Shire Health.

Ian Mulheirn is the Director of the Social Market Foundation. He joined the SMF as the Chief Economist, after three years as an economic advisor at HM Treasury. He has worked in a variety of policy areas including child poverty, savings & investment, welfare to work and higher education funding. He has also undertaken published research into the drivers of worklessness in London and evaluation of the Working Tax Credit and the National Minimum Wage.

Rafael Behr is the Chief Political Commentator of the New Statesman. Before joining the New Statesman, Rafael worked as the Chief Leader Writer for The Observer, as a business reporter for the BBC and for the Financial Times as a foreign correspondent. Before becoming a journalist, Rafael worked as an emerging markets investment risk analyst.