People

Amelia Abplanalp is the Executive Assistant to the Director General, 
Mark Littlewood. Prior to joining the IEA in 2013 she worked at the New
 Zealand Parliament where she was Private Secretary to the Speaker of the House. 

Prior to that, Amelia worked for the New Zealand Government Research and
 Communications Unit as a Research and Communications Advisor. She also
 did an internship at the independent think tank Maxim Institute and 
worked as a research assistant on a project looking at foreign aid.
 Amelia has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics from the
 University of Auckland.

Glynn Brailsford is the IEA’s Chief Operating Officer. He was formerly CEO of Los Angeles-based PROMAX&BDA, a not-for-profit association for marketing and design executives in television. Before that, he was a multi-award winning Creative Director for Channel 5, Discovery, Nickelodeon and Yorkshire Television, where he launched some of Britain’s most successful programmes. He started out in print journalism before moving into radio and TV, where he produced programmes in news, sport, entertainment and politics.

Dr Steve Davies is Education Director at the IEA. Previously he was program officer at the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) at George Mason University in Virginia. He joined IHS from the UK where he was Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. A historian, he graduated from St Andrews University in Scotland in 1976 and gained his PhD from the same institution in 1984. He has authored several books, including Empiricism and History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) and was co-editor with Nigel Ashford of The Dictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought (Routledge, 1991).

Stephanie Lis joined the IEA in July 2012 as Communications Officer. She previously worked as Campaign Manager at The Freedom Association where her focus was on civil liberties, individual freedom and the European Union. She studied history at the University of Nottingham and then went on to obtain an MSc in History and International Relations from the London School of Economics, where she focused on European integration studies whilst writing a thesis on diplomacy during the lead up to the Falklands War. She has previously worked at YouGov and has also been a delegate at European Youth Parliament sessions.

Ruth Porter is Communications Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She has worked in public policy and communications for nearly a decade. During this time she has represented UK businesses working in areas including software, energy and electronics. She studied politics and philosophy at the University of Warwick before moving to New Zealand, where she worked for the independent think tank, Maxim Institute. Ruth worked on the research team looking at a wide range of issues from social policy to tax reform. She co-authored a series of reports on education that won the Innovative Projects category of the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Awards and edited the book Pursuing social justice in New Zealand, which was launched by New Zealand's Governor-General. She has written for various publications, including the Wall Street Journal and The Sunday Times, she also writes regularly for the Daily Telegraph website and is a frequent commentator in the British media on programmes such as Newsnight and Sky’s Boulton & Co.

Clare Rusbridge is Office Manager and Company Secretary at the IEA. Clare joined the IEA in 1996 as Receptionist and was appointed EA to DG in 1999. She took on the role of Company Secretary in 2001. Before joining the IEA, Clare spent her early career in retail. After leaving school she became secretary in a soft furnishing company then, after a year in Canada, returned to the UK and worked briefly as a florist. Clare worked as branch manager in Retail stores, Phase Eight and US company Talbots until she joined the IEA.

Christopher Snowdon is the Director of Lifestyle Economics at the IEA. He is the author of The Art of Suppression, The Spirit Level Delusion and Velvet Glove; Iron Fist. His work focuses on pleasure, prohibition and dodgy statistics. He has authored a number of publications including Sock Puppets, Euro Puppets, The Proof of the Pudding, The Crack Cocaine of Gambling and Free Market Solutions in Health.

Kevin Bell’s background is in public affairs and public relations. He was formerly Regional President at Fleishman-Hillard and managed their activities in the UK, Africa and Middle East. He specialises in advising senior executives of leading blue-chip companies, as well as senior politicians on their communications strategies. One of the industry’s most experienced practitioners, his expertise ranges from media relations, reputation management and M&A, to political counsel, crisis communications and regulatory campaigns. Kevin was an adviser to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Mike Fisher is the second son of Sir Antony Fisher, who founded the Institute of Economic Affairs. He has spent his life working in business, founding Whale Tankers Ltd (based in Solihull). He remained chairman of the company until 2001. For the past eight years Mike has been on the Council of Aims for Industry, he spent two years on HM Government’s Deregulation Task Force, as well as three years on HM Government’s Enterprise and Deregulation Panel at The Cabinet Office. For the last five years he has also served as a Governor at Arden School, Knowle.

Patrick Minford CBE has been Professor of Economics, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University since October 1997. Between 1967 and 1976 he held economic positions in the Ministry of Finance, Malawi; Courtaulds Limited; H M Treasury; H M Treasury's Delegation to Washington, DC; Manchester University; and The National Institute for Economic and Social Research. From 1976-1997, Patrick Minford was professor of economics at Liverpool University. He was a member of Monopolies and Mergers Commission 1990-96 and one of the HM Treasury's Panel of Forecasters ('Six Wise Men') 1993-1996. He is author of many books and articles on exchange rates, unemployment, housing and macroeconomics.

Neil Record is Chairman of Record plc, a listed specialist currency asset manager. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and University College London, from where he holds an MSc in Economics (with distinction). His first job was as an economist at the Bank of England; this was followed by a stint in industry. In 1983, he founded Record, the firm he still chairs.  He has lectured on Investment Management at Cambridge University, and is author of the first book on specialist currency management within an investment context: Currency Overlay (John Wiley & Sons, 2003).  Neil has been a prime mover in attempting to improve transparency in public sector pensions in the UK, and is author or co-author of four papers on this topic, including Sir Humphrey’s Legacy (2006) published by the IEA.  He is a member of the Investment Committee and Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.