The panel

In addition to the report a Living Britain Panel of celebrity spokespeople and experts able to comment on the report will be helping to stimulate debate and lend further credibility to the seriousness of the report. The panel members took part in the launch press breakfast and will join the regional forums.

Spokespeople

Dylan Jones - Editor of GQ magazine for the past six years, with a respected background in style and fashion journalism. A well known author in his own right, including biographies on fashion designer Sir Paul Smith and Doors frontman Jim Morrison, a New York Times bestseller, as well as his most recent book iPOD (2005) outlining the changing face of music.

Ekow Eshun - Artistic Director of The Institute of Contemporary Arts, he is a contributor to BBC2’s Friday night arts programme Newsnight Review and a former editor of Arena magazine. Born in London with Ghanaian heritage, he studied at the London School of Economics and wrote his own memoirs – Black Gold of The Sun.

Michael Portillo – from 2002 onwards, Michael Portillo has developed an active career in media, both as a commentator on public affairs and as a writer and presenter of TV and radio documentaries. Until 2006 he was also a non executive director of BAE Systems plc. He stepped down from that position in March 2006, owing to potential conflicts of interest and has focussed on his work as a broadcaster and historian.

Lowri Turner - TV presenter, journalist and author Lowri Turner has fronted a wealth of popular TV programmes including Looking Good, Useless Teenager, London Tonight, House Call and DIY SOS.  She’s  also been a guest on many popular celebrity contest shows, including I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Celebrity  Fit  Club. Over the years, she has also been a hugely popular panellist on a number of well known game shows including Hot Gossip.
   

Martin Raymond – Founder of The Future Laboratory, Martin was born in Ireland and moved to the UK in 1984 to work as a journalist in the design, fashion, film and video sectors. He founded VideoGraphic, and later became an associate editor at Screen International.