Westminster Index
Leader in UK Public Affairs: Jessica Lennard, Chief Strategy Officer, Competition and Markets Authority – “I’m an obsessive starter finisher”
After leaving Linklaters, Jessica joined the Conservative Party’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change team in 2008 just as energy security and climate policy were rising rapidly up the agenda. Her career reflects how the energy market has re-structured over the last decade.
Leader in UK Public Affairs: Nick Laitner, Senior MD, Teneo: “Money doesn’t buy influence”
Nick Laitner, MD of Teneo, describes his public affairs journey from graduate intern to senior UK political influencer. Agency success, he says, comes from hiring and mentoring the best people
Leader in UK Public Affairs: Jon Antoniazzi, Associate Director for Policy & Public Affairs, Marie Curie
After his father died of a NHS failure and his mother from a late cancer diagnosis, Jon Antoniazzi has been on a determined career path to change health policy
The Mace Questionnaire: Alex Sobel MP
The Labour MP on the cost of living crisis, the challenges in Ukraine and West Papua, and the best places in Leeds for a night out
Leader in UK Public Affairs: Jacquie Bance de Vasquez, Director of Policy and Engagement, Magic Breakfast
Beginning in the film industry and moving over to working in social enterprise, Jacquie Bance de Vasquez talks The Mace through her work
Leader in UK Public Affairs: Konrad Shek, Public Policy & Regulation Director, Advertising Association
From IT engineer to Foreign Office diplomat to advertising regulator, Konrad Shek has built a career by going where curiosity leads – and his instinct for translating complexity into influence has made him one of public affairs’ more quietly formidable operators.
The Mace Questionnaire: Bob Blackman MP: “It is time to rebuild our party”
The ‘pragmatic’ new chair of the 1922 Committee could shape the direction of the Conservative Party
Special Relationships: Westminster power couples of 2026
Which special relationships are really running the country? Emily Hill surveys the top political romances in Westminster.
The Strategist: Shomik Panda, Inline Policy
As CEO of Inline Policy, Shomik Panda combines political insight with commercial understanding. Selected as a Mace Top 100 lobbyist, expertise includes where digital technology intersects with travel, transport, fintech and short-term accommodation.
The Mace Questionnaire: Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary for Business and Trade
After running Sky, Andrew Griffiths become a high flying MP who rose through the Johnson and Sunak governments. In his Mace profile, the Shadow Secretary for Business and Trade reveals his love of dark skies and walking his dogs in Sussex.









