Paul has thirteen years of experience working in the political and environmental sphere. Most recently he worked in the Mayor’s Office at the Greater London Authority, advising on environment and energy, covering the Ultra Low Emission Zone expansion and the Mayor’s presence at COP27.

Before that he was head of politics at environmental think tank Green Alliance and on the public affairs team of international conservation charity RSPB. He started his career working for a number of Labour MPs at Westminster, including Kerry McCarthy and Ben Bradshaw.

Megan has many years of professional experience in the labour and climate movement, and most recently worked in the politics team at Greenpeace UK, covering campaigns including the Global Plastics Treaty, sewage, and the electoral salience of climate policies.

Prior to this, she worked for a Labour led local authority and prior to that, for a Labour MEP in Brussels. She started her political career working for Progress (now Progressive Britain).

Patrick focuses on net zero infrastructure and the planning system. Previously he has worked in consultancy at the Centre for Progressive Policy, where he focused on energy and net zero, and for Labour MP James Murray in Westminster. He is originally from Northern Ireland and attended Queen's University Belfast and King's College London.

Alex's core focus at LCEF is on land use, nature and agriculture. Previously he worked at the RSPB and before then the Soil Association, focusing on how land can be managed best for people, climate and nature. 

Prior to this he worked at Defra on the agricultural transition and the economics of agri-food supply chains. He has a background in farming and has worked on arable, sheep and dairy farms in the UK and New Zealand. 

Alex works on coordination of political strategy across the organisation, as well as leading on LCEF's international work. Alex came to LCEF from the movement building team at the RSPB, where she worked on national campaigns and organising. Prior to this she spent several years working in the Westminster and constituency offices of Labour MPs. She holds a BA in Politics and Parliamentary Studies from the University of Leeds.

Ralph focuses on LCEF's work on transport and air quality. He has over five years of experience supporting and leading programmes of work for leading climate NGOs, mainly focused on transport. Most recently, Ralph was leading on electric vehicles policy in the UK for Transport & Environment where he helped to drive UK policy change, most notably the introduction of the zero emission vehicle mandate. He holds an LLB in Law and an LLM in Environmental Law.

Shristi is the Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Lead at the Labour Climate and Environment Forum (LCEF), where she leads digital and campaign communications, as well as managing relationships with a broad spectrum of stakeholders. She previously worked in public affairs at H/Advisors Cicero, advising clients on ESG policy and infrastructure planning, and has experience in Keir Starmer’s Constituency Office and as an LSE Public Research Partner. She holds a degree in Politics and Economics from the London School of Economics.

Corrina supports the LCEF team by facilitating a well-run organisation.  She oversees the operational and governance functions such as finance, HR, compliance and internal processes.  Corrina looks at effective ways of working and continual improvement and within LCEF.  She has many years' experience in operations building on an MSc in Corporate Governance and Ethics and a BA in Politics and Philosophy.

Barbara is a Member of the House of Lords, has been Chairman of the Woodland Trust since 2016 and was appointed the Chairman of Council at the Royal Veterinary College in July 2019. Her other voluntary positions include Honorary President of the South Georgia Heritage Trust; Patron of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management; and Vice President of RSPB, Bird Life International and Flora and Fauna International.

She has formerly held a variety of environmental leadership roles, including Chief Executive of RSPB, Chairman of English Nature and Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.Baroness Young began her career in health service management in teaching districts in Scotland and London.  She was also founder chair of the Care Quality Commission and Chief Executive of Diabetes UK and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017.

Professor Rt. Hon. Carwyn Jones is a former First Minister of Wales, a role he held between 2009 and 2018. He left the Welsh Parliament in 2021 after representing the Bridgend constituency for twenty-two years which included eighteen consecutive years in government. Before politics he practised at the Bar for ten years and was a Professional Tutor on the Bar Vocational Course at Cardiff University. He is now a Professor at Aberystwyth University with a strong interest in constitutional law. He is also Bencher at Gray’s Inn.

Since leaving politics he has also been involved in broadcasting and business consultancy and is also involved with a number of charities. His autobiography was published in 2020.

Rishi has worked in Climate and Sustainability for 14 years, primarily in financial services. He was previously Head of Climate and Sustainable Finance at NatWest Group focused on supporting customers transition to a lower carbon economy. He also serves as an elected ward Councillor and is chair of the Camden Pensions Committee. The fund is a Local Government Pension Scheme and won a LAPF Award for its innovative approach to ESG. He is also Shareholder Chair of the LCIV pool, representing around £45bn of Local Government Pensions.

In his voluntary work, Rishi is elected to the board of the UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association, helping to drive Responsible Investment, on the board of UK100, supporting local climate action, and is an Emeritus Governor of the London School of Economics & Political Sciences.

Lord Iain McNicol of West Kilbride is a member of the House of Lords, trade unionist and Labour life peer who served as the General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2011 to 2018.

In this role, he was legally and operationally responsible for the Labour Party’s electoral and legal operations in the UK. Prior to that, he held the position of National Political Officer of the GMB Union. Iain is a Senior Adviser to The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA), Chair of the Advisory Board at Rewired Earth  and is the current Chair of the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA).

In January 2025 Lord McNicol was appointed as the UK’s Trade Envoy to Kuwait, Jordan, Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Sue is Senior Deputy General Secretary at Prospect, the union for professionals.

Her responsibilities in Prospect include leading the union’s work across the energy and defence sectors; science, climate and environment; and gender equality.

Sue is a member of the TUC Executive Committee and the General Council’s lead on energy, environment and sustainability, chair of the Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC), and a TUC Aid Trustee. She was a member of the government’s green jobs taskforce and represents the TUC on the Net Zero Council.

Sue is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Mete Coban MBE is a changemaker working at the intersection of climate, community and youth empowerment.

As a former Councillor and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, and Transport in Hackney, Mete led a pioneering £61 million Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis locally. He is best known for launching Hackney’s Community Energy Fund, which delivers clean, community-owned energy to 39 not-for-profit organisations. He is also currently the Deputy Mayor of London for Energy and Environment.

Mete is also the Founder of the youth-led charity My Life My Say, where he spearheaded the Give an X voter registration campaign — resulting in over 488,000 newly registered voters ahead of the 2024 UK General Election.

He was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to young people, recognising his work to make politics and democracy more accessible.

Ryan is a green finance and environmental policy expert, and the Built Environment Programme Director at the Green Finance Institute (GFI). He leads work with government and industry to mobilise finance for retrofit and low-carbon heat. He previously directed GFI’s Green Taxonomy Programme, advising the Treasury on regulation, and has led projects on sustainable heating, local climate finance, and green standards in agriculture and fisheries. Before joining GFI, Ryan worked in infrastructure and renewable energy finance.

Ryan is also a Labour Councillor in the City of Westminster, serving as Cabinet Member for Climate, Ecology, Culture and Air Quality. Under his leadership, Westminster was ranked the UK’s top council for climate action by Climate Emergency UK. Originally from Stockport, he is a trustee of Stockport Advocacy and sits on several advisory boards.

Joe has been the General Secretary of the Co-operative Party since 2019. He has 20 years’ experience in a variety of roles in British politics including shadow cabinet adviser, public affairs professional, a political and policy manager and secretariat to All Party Groups. He has worked for the Co-operative Party since 2009 and through that time has written and campaigned across an extensive range of co-operative areas and policy.

Ruairidh focuses on the policy and politics of Net Zero. Outside of LCEF, he works with FTSE100 companies on what it will take to accelerate the transition and was previously a special advisor to the UN Climate Change High Level Champions. He has particular experience on public opinion and political strategy, both on climate change and more widely. Ruairidh is also a Fellow with Labour Together.

Caitlin Prowle is Head of Politics at the Co-operative Party, the political party representing the UK's co-operative movement. She was previously a political advisor at the Labour Party and a political officer at GMB Union.

Sofie is Co-Director of Round Our Way, a non-profit that supports people and communities who are impacted by climate change in the UK to tell their stories. Prior to joining Round Our Way Sofie ran the communications teams at the Institute for Public Policy Research and the New Economics Foundation. 

Cllr Rezina Chowdhury is leading figure in London government as the Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council. Her current portfolio, Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air, places her at the forefront of the borough’s efforts to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030. She leads on implementing Lambeth’s Climate Action Plan, promoting active travel, improving air quality, and retrofitting homes for energy efficiency. She is also active nationally, serving on the Labour Party’s National Policy Forum and supporting campaigns for climate and social justice.

Sam is the associate director for environment and energy security at IPPR. Previously he worked as director of energy and environment at the research firm Public First, Head of Economy at Green Alliance and in policy roles at the Tony Blair Institute, and the Wellcome Trust, as well as various positions for the Labour Party. Outside of work, he is on the board of Bristol Museums Development Trust, a member of Chatham House’s governing council, and a director of the Parliamentary Renewables and Sustainable Energy group. He holds an MSc in climate change.

Steve is Director of Persuasion UK and leads our research work. He has spent his career working at the intersection of politics, policy and public attitudes, with a focus on communications-orientated polling research. In recent years, he has specialised in global attitudes to the Net Zero transition. In addition, Steve has written extensively about UK electoral battlegrounds, being the first person to coin the term ‘Blue Wall’ and define these constituencies in a UK context. His work has featured in the likes of The Times, Telegraph, FT and Guardian.

Councillor Shanika Mahendran is Cabinet Member for Planning & Placemaking on Milton Keynes City Council, where she leads on climate and sustainability policy. She holds an MSc in Sustainable Cities from King's College London, and has wide political experience including working for the Co-operative Party and in Keir Starmer's political office while Leader of the Opposition. She has worked closely with LCEF as a former lead on the Air Quality and Transport programme.

Virginia is a Director at Flint Global where she leads the climate and sustainability advisory practice. Prior to joining Flint, Virginia was Director of Industrial Strategy and Clean Energy at Labour Together. In this role, she advised shadow Labour ministers on industrial strategy, decarbonisation, and economic security.

Virginia spent a decade in the UK Government. She was part of the Cabinet Office leadership team delivering the UK's COP26 Presidency – the UN's annual climate change summit – and subsequently led the implementation of decarbonisation plans for energy, transport, and industry. Virginia was awarded an MBE by The King in recognition of her contribution to tackling climate change and delivering the COP26 summit.

Virginia also held roles in HM Treasury and the Foreign Office advising ministers on a range of issues across the net zero transition, climate change, geopolitical risk, and economic policy.

Tom is Head of Communications and Political Advocacy at Prospect, a trade union representing workers in the public and private sectors including in the energy industry and in environmental policy. Previously he was Director of Campaigns and Advocacy at the Economic Change Unit where he set up and ran the Invest in Britain campaign aimed at reforming the UK’s fiscal rules. He has a background in Labour and trade union politics and is interested in the interaction of economic and industrial policy and political communications.

Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is a social movement strategist, facilitator, and coach with over a decade of experience in political education, organisational transformation, and liberation work. As Executive Director of the New Economy Organisers Network (NEON), she has led major strategy initiatives and trained hundreds of organisations in movement building, strategic communications and political strategy. Ayeisha is also the co-founder of Kinfolk Network, a pioneering space for Black activists, and sits on several boards including Greenpeace UK. Ayeisha presents the Weekly Economics Podcast, Economics with Subtitles for BBC R4 and The Why Factor for BBC World Service, and holds degrees from UCL and Goldsmiths University of London.

Georgie Laming is Director of Campaigns and Communications at HOPE not hate. Georgie has run successful campaigns building consensus around issues like making public sexual harassment a criminal offence, removing harmful and hateful content creators from social media platforms and ending unfair no fault evictions.

Hayden Munro is an experienced campaign strategist who has run multiple national elections. He was Campaign Director for New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's landslide election victory in 2020. He served as an advisor on Energy, Housing, Science and Innovation and Just Transition Strategy for the New Zealand Labour Government. He has advised Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, Trade Unions and the leaders of some of the world's largest companies on campaign strategy.