Daniel Hannan, President (president@ybf.org)

Daniel Hannan is the President of the Young Britons’ Foundation and has recently been ranked tenth by The Daily Telegraph in its annual poll of most influential centre-right figures in Britain. Having attended Marlborough College and Oriel College, Oxford, Dan first became director of the European Research Group before subsequently becoming a leader writer for The Daily Telegraph. In 1999, Dan was elected to the European Parliament and has represented the South-East since that time.

Dan has risen to prominence thanks to his excoriating attack on Gordon Brown in the European Parliament which became a YouTube sensation. He is now a regular guest on Fox News. The co-author with Douglas Carswell of The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain, Dan has appeared in the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Die Welt, Weltwoche, The Sunday Telegraph, The Catholic Herald, Freedom Today, The Brussels Journal and The Spectator.

Dan is fluent in French and Spanish and was born in Lima, Peru.

Donal Blaney, Chief Executive (donal@ybf.org.uk)

Donal is the co-founder and Chief Executive of The Young Britons’ Foundation. He is a law graduate of Southampton University, a solicitor and owner of his own law firm and consultancy business which has offices in England, the United States, Ireland and the British Virgin Islands. Donal is a former Chairman of Southampton University Conservative Association (1993-4) and Wessex Area Conservative Students (1993-5). He is also a former Students’ Union Officer and NUS delegate.

After graduating, Donal became involved in the National Association of Conservative Graduates, of which he became Chairman in 1997. In 1998, he was asked by then Leader William Hague to unite the Conservative Students, Young Conservatives and the Conservative Graduates into one new youth organisation – Conservative Future – of which he became the first National Chairman (1998-9).

Donal served a four year term as a local councillor in Hammersmith & Fulham, and is a former member of the Executive of Conservative Way Forward. His non-political interests include LiverpoolFootball Club, choral music and the cinema. Donal is married to Marci, a former US Army reserve soldier who served in Iraq. He has homes in Kent & Florida.

Matthew Richardson, Executive Director (matthew@ybf.org.uk)

Matthew is a Barrister and former Conservative Future National Deputy Chairman. A graduate of the University of Oxford, Matthew practices at Henderson Chambers. Matthew successfully completed his pupillage at 7 New Square, part of which was spent working in the legal department of Imperial Innovations, the company responsible for spinning out the intellectual property of Imperial College, where he gained commercial experience in a legal setting.

Matthew has gained experience in various different aspects of contentious and non-contentious areas from advising on and drafting contracts, to interlocutory, appellate and trial advocacy, particularly in commercial and chancery, intellectual property and computer law, employment and civil matters. As Director of the Legal Advice & Support Unit, Matthew honed his interest in education and election law. Now as Executive Director of the Young Britons’ Foundation, Matthew also focuses his efforts on YBF’s job and internship programme.

In 2009, Matthew was elected as a Common Councilman in the City of London.

Emma Carr, Director of Operations (emma@ybf.org.uk)

Emma is from Co Durham and now lives in Newcastle where she attended Newcastle Church High School.  Having finished sixth from in 2007 she went on to attend Northumbria University where she graduated in July 2010 with a degree in History and Politics.  Having been a Student with YBF for 3 years Emma won the Eric Forth Memorial Award at the YBF6 conference in 2009 for her work for the Conservatives in Labours heartland in the North East.

Cllr Paul Osborn, Director of Strategy (paul@ybf.org.uk)

Cllr Paul Osborn is Director of Strategy for the Young Britons’ Foundation. He is councillor for Pinner Ward in the London Borough of Harrow where he is the Cabinet Member for Strategy and Business Support Services. After attending school in Ealing, Paul attended Southampton University where hestudied Politics & International Relations. As well as co-founding Empower Students, Paul was the President of the Debating Union. He won three inter-varsity debating championships and representing Southampton at the World Debating Championships at Oxford & Princeton.

After editing Ocean Blue (the monthly journal of the National Association of Conservative Graduates), Paul sat on the Executive of Conservative Way Forward. In 2005, Paul followed G Gordon Liddy in addressing the pro-war Rally to Honor Military Families on the Mall in Washington, DC. He is a member of the Heritage Foundation Young President’s Club, the National Rifle Association of America and is a founder supporter of the Young Britons’ Foundation.

Alex Deane, Director of Research (alex@ybf.org.uk)

Alex Deane is a Barrister. He read English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge and took a Masters degree in International Relations as a Rotary Scholar at Griffith University. He is a World Universities Debating Champion and is the author of The Great Abdication: Why Britain’s Decline is the Fault of the Middle Class, published by Imprint Academic. A former chief of staff to the Rt Hon David Cameron MP, he has also worked for the Liberal Party in Australia.

Greg Smith, Director of Campaigns (greg@ybf.org.uk)

Greg Smith is a Co-Founder and former Executive Director of the Young Britons’ Foundation. Educated at Bromsgrove School and Birmingham University, Greg is a successful political consultant, having ran the campaigns of Greg Hands MP in 2005 and masterminding the Conservative victory in 2006 in the borough council elections in Hammersmith & Fulham. Greg is the Cabinet Member for Crime & Anti-Social Behaviour, in which capacity he frequently appears in the print and broadcast media. He is also a member of the Executive of Conservative Way Forward.

Mark Clarke, Director of Outreach, (mark@ybf.org.uk)

Mark Clarke was the National Chairman of Conservative Future 2006-2008, and is the Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Tooting.

Mark attended Durham University, graduating in 1999 with a degree in Ancient and Modern History. Prior to Durham, he was a pupil at Dulwich College. He has been the serving Chairman of Conservative Future since 2006. Clarke has made it his goal to increase the number of Conservative Future branches in marginal constituencies. In his capacity as Chairman of Conservative Future, Mark appeared in the Channel 4 documentary Make Me a Tory, attempting to persuade the documentary’s director and author to become a Conservative.

He was selected in February 2007 as the Conservative Party Parliamentary Candidate for Tooting. Previously, he had been the Young Conservatives Chairman for Mitcham & Morden and Wimbledon, the Conservative Future Chairman for Durham University Conservatives and the CF regional chairman for North East England. He is the great-nephew of the late Dominican Prime Minister, Dame Eugenia Charles, whom he is reported as saying he considers the Conservative politician that he most admires.

His career has included a five year stint in marketing with Procter & Gamble, two years in strategy consultancy with the Boston Consulting Group and more recently he has worked for Mars.

Sarkis Zeronian, Director of Communications (sarkis@ybf.org.uk)

Sarkis Zeronian is Director of Communications for the Young Britons’ Foundation. He is Chairman of Fairfield Ward Conservatives in Battersea. After reading law at Southampton University, where he was Chairman of the University Conservative Association, Sarkis attended the College of Law, Guildford. Sarkis is a former committee member of the National Association of Conservative Graduates.

Sarkis is now a recruitment consultant, specializing in placing lawyers in the private banking sector.

Mike Rouse, Director of Technology (mike@ybf.org.uk)

Mike Rouse is Director of Technology for the Young Britons’ Foundation. Originally from the industrial town of Coventry, Mike drew on his years of IT and senior administrative experience to set up his own political website design consultancy in 2006 that focused on providing affordable yet highly effective websites for a range of politicians such as the Rt Hon John Redwood MP and projects like Tory Radio.

He joined 18DoughtyStreet.com in October 2006 to help set up the technical elements of Britain’s first true internet TV station and he continues to manage the website and internet marketing operations. Mike joined the Young Britons’ Foundation in early 2007 to help with the technical delivery of training and workshops and he continues to contribute to various events and functions within the organisation, believing passionately in its aims and objectives.