Forthcoming Dinners

The British financier, politician, co-founder and chief executive officer of Somerset Capital Management. He served as co-chairman of the Conservative Party from November 2024 until July 2025, under Rishi Sunak as a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade and in the Department for International Trade during the prime ministership of Liz Truss. He is also a significant donor to the Conservative Party and served as its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019. He will review the contemporary political scene, whatever that may be.

Colonel (Rtd) Iain Smailes. Wednesday, 28th October 

Commissioned in 1982 he held senior positions in the UN Forces in Sierra Leone and Iraq; as adviser to the UN in Kosovo and later the Afghan Army Training Command; and as Defence Attaché, first in Kabul and then in Yemen, his final appointment before retiring from the Army in 2016. He has since been a consultant for Chatham House, Transparency International, BBC and Sky News, for the last five years based in the West Bank. He has worked for the FCDO, MOD, NATO, UN and the US Army and State Department, as well as with the EU, non government and civil society organisations, think-tanks, media and business. He is also a long standing trustee (now Chair of the Board) of an environmental/conservation charitable foundation. He will review the state of the Middle East.

Air Marshal Sir David Walker. Monday, 23rd November

A Director at Alexander Mann Solutions, a member of the advisory board of Auticon and a retired RAF officer and Master of the Household to the Sovereign.  Commissioned in 1974, his subsequent posts included Station commander at RAF Halton in 1997, Director of Corporate Communications for the RAF in 1998 and Director of Personnel and Training Policy in 2002. He was then Air Officer Commanding the RAF Training Group in 2003 before being seconded to Buckingham Palace in 2005 as Master of the Household. He will be speaking on his experiences as Head of the Royal Household with some thoughts on its future.