Alex Macqueen is an actor, best known for his roles as Julius Nicholson in the BBC’s Thick Of It and Neil’s Dad in the Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre and President of the Cambridge University Theatre Company, before qualifying as a Barrister at the Middle Temple. In 2017, he was elected by the Inn as a Master of The Bench.

Frank spent nine years as an investment banker in New York, London and Bahrain before switching to journalism and joining the BBC in 1995. Frank has reported extensively on the global ‘War on Terror’ in Guantanamo Bay, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. He went on to write the bestselling book Blood and Sand, the poignant story of what can happen to your belief system when the culture you have embraced ends up trying to kill you. He was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to journalism.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind is the Former British Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and Transport Secretary. He served as the Former Foreign Secretary and Former Chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the British Parliament, which oversees the UK’s intelligence agencies .A master orator, he combines, wit, insight and experience and whether the audience is specialist or generalist, they will enjoy his intellect as much as his humour.

Henry Hogger is a British diplomat with 36 years of experience conducting bilateral relations, advising ministers, and reporting on political events. With specialization in the Arab world, his expertise spans the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, including developmental work in Venezuela, Jordan, Namibia, and Syria. The former British Ambassador to Syria, he is one of the preeminent voices on geopolitics and the future of the country.

Iain Duncan Smith MP is the Chairman of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), and former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (DWP). He was elected Member of Parliament for Chingford in 1992, and re-elected in 1997 as Member of Parliament for the re-drawn constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green.

Seasoned war correspondent Jeremy Bowen provides riveting anecdotes from a life reporting on the front line at some of the most fraught conflicts of the past twenty years. Jeremy has covered hostilities from over 70 countries ranging from El Salvador, Somalia to the West Bank and his current role as the BBC’s Middle East Editor enables him to cast a welcome light onto one of the most complex areas of the world.

Star of the hit TV show The Missing, James Nesbitt is one of the most recognizable, talented and accomplished actors on our screens. His first major TV roles included Ballykissangel and Playing The Field but it was the BAFTA award winning Cold Feet that brought him to the attention of a wider audience. He has starred in multiple critically acclaimed film roles, including Bloody Sunday, Danny Boyle’s movie Millions, BAFTA award-winning Occupation for BBC One.

Thorvaldur Gylfason is Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland. He is also Research Fellow at CESifo (Center for Economic Studies) at the University of Munich & Research Associate at the Center for U.S.-Japan Business and Economic Studies at New York University. He was elected to Iceland's Constitutional Assembly in 2010 and appointed by Parliament to a Constitutional Council that drafted a constitutional bill delivered to Parliament 29 July 2011.

Frank hosts Absolute Radio’s Sony Award winning Saturday morning flagship show, whose podcasts have been downloaded 6.5 million times. Frank’s television work includes The Frank Skinner Show (BBC One, ITV 1), which is widely credited as setting the tone for the modern comedic chat show and ran for nine years, attracting 11 million viewers at its peak. He has written two books, the first of which was Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner, the top selling autobiography of 2002, spending 46 weeks in The Sunday Times Bestseller List.

As one of the most recognised and respected TV foreign correspondents in the country, Rageh Omaar has one of the biggest international profiles of British TV journalists in the world, both as a prominent reporter and presenter for the BBC and Al Jazeera English. With a regular daily audience of 8 million people, Rageh’s eyewitness reports and feature length documentaries have been shown in over 180 countries.

Adrian Chiles is one of television’s most versatile and sought after presenters. Between 2010 and 2015 Adrian fronted ITV's football coverage, including the Champions League, Euros, two World Cups and England internationals. Hailed as a brilliant broadcaster with wit and affable gruffness, Adrian is great speaker for any sport-themed event.

Winner of the 2010 Chortle Student Comedian of the Year Award and Comedy Central's Funniest Student Award 2011, Phil Wang is rapidly making a name for himself as “a very promising up-and-comer” (The Independent) with clever lines and a trademark laid-back style. In 2011 Phil featured in the Edinburgh Festival's longest-running stand-up showcase, The Comedy Zone, and has since appeared on Fresh From The Fringe (Radio 4),** The Comedy Live Lounge** (Radio 1), Three at the Fringe (BBC 3), and featured as a stand-up guest on The Rob Brydon Show (BBC 2). In 2012 he toured the UK and America with the Cambridge Footlights as a writer and performer in their International Tour Show, Perfect Strangers. "Phil was the highlight of my evening. From his opening joke... everyone was hooked... it’s remarkable that his individual brand of cynical and devilishly sharp humour is already so sophisticated." Parliament