Rt Hon Baroness Catherine Ashton LG GCMG

Baroness Catherine Ashton served as the European Union’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy between 2009 and 2014. Previously she was EU Commissioner for Trade, served as a Minister in the Departments of Education and Justice, and was Leader of the House of Lords and President of HM Queen’s Privy Council.

Baroness Ashton is a Distinguished Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars and chair of the advisory board of the Institute for Global Negotiation in Zurich. She is the author of the book “And then What?” She is a Nobel Prize nominee and received many awards, most recently the Order of the Garter, bestowed by HM King in June 2023. In 2025 she chaired the House of Lords inquiry into UK engagement with Space and sits on the European Affairs Committee.