Executive Board of Directors
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Founder & Chief Executive of CANZUK International James is the Founder and Chief Executive of CANZUK International. Born in South Wales in the UK, James was educated at Kent School in Connecticut, USA before attending Cardiff University in Wales to study Law and Politics. He soon worked extensively within governments around the world, including the US Congressional Office in Florida, the Australian Senate in Canberra and the Houses of Parliament in London, UK. He currently resides in Toronto, Canada and has spoken internationally about the CANZUK initiative. |
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Chairman of CANZUK International John serves as Chairman of Matthew Bender & Co. Holdings Ltd., an investment office associated with one of the founding families of a FTSE 100 publishing concern. Between 1988 and 2001, John worked at Morgan Stanley, Barings and Coutts. He served as special adviser to The Prince of Wales’s charities office between 2004 and 2014 as well as councillor of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea between 1990 and 1994. Between 1993 and 2005, John acted as chairman of a Conservative Party discussion group for the business community and is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners. |
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Director of CANZUK International Nigel is an Australian political writer and former senior analyst in the Australian Government. In the 1990s he wrote a civil libertarian defence of the Crown in the Westminster system, arguing against the Australian republican initiative. The book was subsequently endorsed by eminent judicial figures including the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland and the former President of the Law Council of Australia. Nigel subsequently was a delegate to the Gladstone Constitutional Convention in June 1999 and campaigned against the republic in the 1999 referendum. |
Advisory Board
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Member of the Advisory Board Sir Michael served as Vice Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and has a distinguished career serving as a board member of the National Bank of Kuwait. He is a former director of the Westminster Forum and also serves as Honourary Secretary for the Pilgrims Society; a British-American affiliation promoting relations between the United States of America and the United Kingdom. |
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Member of the Advisory Board Stephen is a corporate strategist, scenario planner, board member, foundation director, published author and sometime Oxford University fellow. A Harvard MBA based on Vancouver Island, he currently serves as a Senior Adviser to one of the world’s largest management consultancies, where he was previously a Principal and head of its think tank for CEOs and Prime Ministers. Having worked on both sides of the Atlantic, Stephen started his career in consulting and investment banking at Bain & Company and Goldman Sachs, and later served as head of strategy for legendary investor Sir John Templeton’s main family philanthropy. |
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Special Adviser For EU Affairs Derrick is a Belgian engineer and economist with deep links to EU institutions. He is currently Professor of international management and strategy at Ghent University and an Associate Fellow at the University of Oxford (Green Templeton College, Oxford Martin School). He is also Chairman of the European Corporate Security Association and Vice Chairman of NATO’s Von Karman Institute. He is former cabinet office secretary of the Flemish Prime Minister, former Chairman of the Belgian Advisers on Foreign Trade to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Chairman of the Euro-ASEAN commission of UNICE. |
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Member of the Advisory Board Dominic is a founding partner and Chief Executive of Somerset Capital Management. Prior to starting Somerset Capital, he was director of marketing at Lloyd George Management and previously at Robert Fleming and Jardine Fleming in Hong Kong. In 2009 he was appointed associate treasurer of the Conservative Party, chairing the Party’s Business and Entrepreneur’s forum and in 2016 was appointed Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party with special responsibility for business engagement and the Party’s finances. He graduated from Durham University in 1995. |
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Special Adviser for Commonwealth Affairs John is Windsor Herald at the College of Arms, the heraldic authority for most of the Commonwealth realms. He is also a Councillor of the City of London and serves as an Adviser to the Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda. He previously worked as a Senior Adviser at the Bank of England and served as the UK’s representative on the Statistics Committee of the European Central Bank. |
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Senior Economics Adviser Andrew is a Principal at Europe Economics, a Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Chairman of the IEA Monetary Policy Committee and was Chairman of Economists for Britain at Vote Leave during the 2016 EU Referendum. At Europe Economics, he has worked extensively on major finance and regulatory questions, including for clients such as the European Commission, UK government departments and industry associations. He is a frequent contributor in the UK and international media on economic and financial matters, including on programmes such as Newsnight, the Today Programme, Sky News, CNBC and Bloomberg. |
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Member of the Advisory Board Noel is a Barrister and an Anglican Priest in New Zealand. He was formerly Professor of Law and was Head of Department of Law and Criminology at Aberystwyth University. His major field of research interest is aspects of the Crown, State, and sovereignty. His work has been published in the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, and elsewhere. He has presented conference papers in many countries, and been a visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge (Wolfson and St Edmund’s Colleges) and The Australian National University. He is the author of 14 books and 150 other works. |
Team Members
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International Communications Director Michelle is a senior copywriter and communications specialist, having worked for some of the world’s top companies including SAP, Telus, Vodafone and Sony. Originally from South Africa, she moved to Ireland where she served as a communications manager for a leading government initiative, and now resides in Toronto, Canada. |
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Government Relations Adviser Brent is a Senior Advisor with Concierge Strategies in Ontario, Canada and the author of “The Case for Commonwealth Free Trade: Options for a new globalization”. He is a Councillor and former Deputy Mayor of Central Frontenac in Ontario and has served in numerous political and research roles including Nanos Research and Commonwealth Advantage. |
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Senior Communications Adviser for Australia Originally from Canada, David is a history lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He teaches and researches world history and science/humanities. David has also contributed to the curriculum funded by Bill Gates Catalyst 3 (bgC3), and is the writer of a crash course series seen by several million people. He has co-edited scholarly collections, and has published numerous academic works on broad trends in world history and interdisciplinarity. |
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Senior Associate for Eastern Canada Joshua has been a part of CANZUK International since its founding in 2015. He resides in his hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick on Canada’s East Coast and works for the Provincial Government. He has touched down in all of the CANZUK countries, having traveled to Australia and the UK and lived in New Zealand. Throughout his studies, he has specialized in communications and is an active volunteer in the historical field in Saint John. A published writer and public presenter, Joshua has great interest in the Commonwealth and the future developments of a CANZUK initiative as part of pro-Commonwealth public policy. |
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Communications and Public Relations Officer Rola is a Canadian public relations specialist originally from Edmonton, Alberta. In 2015, she moved to London, England where she worked in the press office of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. She is a contributor for Huffpost UK and has extensive experience in communications, external affairs and immigration permits/visas. |
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Project Specialist Deborah is a trained professional paralegal with over 10 years of project based experience in professional and volunteer roles. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, she specializes in resource management, website management, research and stakeholder relations with expertise in legal and political policy development. She is a graduate from the University of British Columbia and has extensive knowledge of public relations, communications and citizen engagement in numerous non-profit organizations. |
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Associate for the United Kingdom Joshua is a university undergraduate and a former member of the Young Wales Project Board. He was one of the youngest candidates to stand for the county council of Monmouthshire in the 2017 local elections and now studies Public Services as part of his undergraduate degree. He is a firm believer in developing closer relations between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and believes it is a natural choice for the UK after Brexit. |
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Senior Engagement Officer for the United Kingdom Morgan is a public affairs and communications professional who sits on the board of several companies and a UK-based think-tank. He played a pivotal role for the Vote Leave campaign during the UK’s EU referendum in 2016, as well as having provided strategic communication advice for a number of election campaigns across the UK. He is also passionate about the UK’s key role in international trade, foreign policy, and defence. |
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Senior Policy Advisor Alex holds an MSc in EU Politics, specializing in International Relations of Europe at the London School of Economics. He also holds a HBA with distinction in Political Science at the University of Toronto, and as part of his studies, has written a dissertation on the economic relationship between Canada and the European Union. Since 2010, he has worked on many Canadian political campaigns, both at the provincial and federal level. He previously lived in London, UK for graduate school and now resides in Toronto, Canada. |
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Content Development Manager Mat is from Dallas, Texas and currently studies Political Science at McGill University in Canada. He has served in numerous content creation roles, including Media Content Creator for the highly prestigious McGill International Review and Vice-President of Communications for the McGill Political Science Students’ Association. He hosts The CANZUK Podcast where he interviews MPs and experts on CANZUK relations, which can be listened to on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. |
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Youth Outreach Fellow Emmett studies International Relations at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is undertaking studies in French, German and Russian, and is politically active on campus, serving as president of two political clubs alongside volunteering with various campaigns. He is passionate about politically engaging students and advancing the CANZUK movement’s momentum amongst young people. |
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Policy Analyst and Researcher Charles is from Oxfordshire in England and holds an MSc in Global Politics and a Ba in Human Geography; both from the University of Southampton. As part of his studies he undertook modules ranging from Security Studies to Theories of International Relations, and his interests are primarily focused on international cooperation and integration. He writes for a range of advocacy campaigns, with a focus upon integration of nations. |
Political Advisory Board
 Member of Parliament for Peterborough Chair of UK APPG for CANZUK |
 Member of Parliament for Barrie—Innisfil Deputy Opposition Whip |
 Member of Parliament for Calgary Midnapore Member of Parliamentary NATO Association |
 Member of Parliament for Abbotsford Former Minister for International Trade |
 Former Member of the European Parliament Former Spokesman for International Trade |
 Member of Parliament for Thornhill Former Chair of National Defence |
 Member of Parliament for Rutland & Melton Deputy Chair of UK APPG for CANZUK |
 Senator for Tasmania Former Minister for Employment |
 Member of Parliament for Wellington Shadow Minister for Democratic Institutions |
 Member of Parliament for Niagara West Shadow Minister for International Trade |
 Former Member of Parliament for Milton Former Deputy Opposition Leader |
 Former Member of Parliament for Canterbury Former Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs |
 Member of Parliament for Edmonton West Shadow Minister for Public Services |
 Former Member of the European Parliament Entrepreneur and Businessman |
 Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre Shadow Minister for COVID-19 Economic Recovery |
 Member of Parliament for Romford Member of APPG for CANZUK |
 Member of Parliament for Cariboo Member of Parliamentary NATO Association |
 Member of Parliament for Darlington Member of Women and Equalities Committee |
 Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes North Local Government Committee Member |
 Member of Parliament for Redcar European Statutory Committee Member |
 Member of Parliament for Burnley Member of EU Future Relationship Committee |