LONDON — Seeking influence in the corridors of power, Big Tech firms can’t get enough of Britain’s leading politicos. From former policy advisers to ex-spin doctors and even the odd journalist, the Big Tech ranks are now dotted with Westminster insiders from across the political spectrum. POLITICO takes you through some of the leading lights.
Nick Clegg, Meta
Where else to start? The most high-profile politician to have been coaxed into the warm lap of Big Tech, former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg accepted a role as head of global policy and communications at Meta (née Facebook) in 2018. A tumultuous political career saw the heady days of “Cleggmania” propel Clegg to power in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, but reneging on election promises helped demolish trust in the party, and he lost his seat in parliament in the 2017 general election.
At Facebook, the ride has been no smoother, with Clegg joining the beleaguered company in the midst of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and wider “techlash.” Nevertheless, Clegg was promoted to president of global affairs last year, which puts him “at the level” of COO Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg himself. A £10 million promotion bonus helped sweeten the move.
Richard Allan, ex-Meta
Before there was Nick Clegg, there was Richard Allan. The former Lib Dem MP held the Sheffield Hallam seat from 1997 before stepping down in 2005 to be replaced by Clegg. He joined Cisco Systems and then Facebook as director of policy in Europe in 2009. He was made Lord Allan of Hallam the following year but kept working for Meta until 2019. He remains in the Lords where he has regularly proffered his experience in debates about the Online Safety Bill.
Lena Pietsch, Meta
Clegg’s ex-spin doctor found her way to the Lib Dem hotbed of Facebook after the party’s election disaster in 2015. The former deputy head of Downing Street comms joined the company as director of policy communications. She was tasked with leading Facebook’s response to whistleblower Frances Haugen and is now the company’s vice president of public affairs.
Phil Reilly, Meta
Another Clegg spin doctor who ended up at Meta (where else?). Reilly started as a local journalist in Kent, then worked his way up through the Lib Dem comms team to become a Clegg SpAd and chief speech writer. Clegg clearly likes his way with words; Reilly was a ghostwriter for the ex-deputy PM’s book and he joined Meta in 2019 as a speechwriter for his former boss.
Samuel Barratt, Amazon
That rare thing; a Lib Dem who works in tech policy but not at Meta. Barratt worked for the party’s comms team for seven years and left in 2020 as director of communications. Before that he was a researcher for Lib Dem MPs Alan Beith and Greg Mulholland. He is now a senior corporate communications policy manager at Amazon and has a PhD in politics and philosophy.
Alex Belardinelli, Meta
Another rare thing; a politico who is at Meta but is not a Lib Dem. Belardinelli spent five years as Ed Balls’ head of comms during his time as Labour’s shadow chancellor from 2010 to 2015 and before that was Balls’ SpAd when he was education secretary. In 2015 Belardinelli joined Uber as head of comms and has been Meta’s comms director for northern Europe since 2019.
Lottie Dominiczak, Uber
The former SpAd to Matt Hancock replaced Belardinelli at Uber in late 2018. She worked in government for four years in roles at the Cabinet Office, Department for Work and Pensions and the then Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. She now leads Uber’s comms across northern and eastern Europe.
Naomi Gummer, Uber
Uber’s public policy director started out as a parliamentary assistant to Jeremy Hunt in 2008 and then worked for Hunt at the culture department (while causing a nepotism row). She joined Google in 2012, working her way up to head of public policy in the U.K. and Ireland, before joining Uber in 2019.
Theo Bertram, TikTok
The man taking the fire for TikTok in Europe started off in comms for Labour before becoming a special adviser to Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He was head of the research and information unit at Downing Street and when Labour lost the 2010 election joined O2 as head of public affairs. From there he spent nine years at Google working in public policy, and is now vice president for public policy in Europe for TikTok, where he has led the company’s response to governments turning hostile to the app over security fears.
Ben Rathe, TikTok
TikTok’s global safety and policy communications manager, Ben Rathe previously acted as an adviser to Clegg between 2012-2015 and, briefly, press secretary to Jo Swinson. Rathe first joined the company as U.K. policy and safety communications lead in 2020, before being promoted and moving to Washington in 2022.
James Lyons, TikTok
Rathe’s soon-to-be colleague, James Lyons, is a former political journalist for the Daily Mirror and Sunday Times who left the lobby in 2017 to become the NHS’ media chief. He will start as TikTok’s head of policy communications for Europe in August, reportedly seeking to advance TikTok’s government relations work in the bloc. The move comes at a tense time for the company, with Western lawmakers increasingly wary of its data practices and China connections.
Giles Derrington, TikTok
Derrington had a long career in parliament before turning to tech policy. He started working for Lib Dem politicians in 2008 and went on to join the party’s whips’ office before leading the party’s parliamentary adviser unit until 2017. He joined industry body TechUK as associate director of policy in 2017. He then became head of public affairs at Deliveroo for the U.K. and Ireland and is now working in public policy for TikTok.
Verity Harding, consultant
Few have had the chance to think longer and harder about AI’s impact on society than Verity Harding. She spent ten years at Alphabet where she worked in policy for Google and then DeepMind, becoming the AI firm’s lead on ethics. She was a SpAd to Clegg from 2009 to 2013 and now heads her own tech consultancy firm called Formation Advisory, while working on a book about AI.
Ben Mascall, Palantir
Palantir’s spokesman has a strong background in the Conservative Party, including as the party’s director of comms, SpAd to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin in the coalition years and adviser to Defense Secretary Michael Fallon in 2015. He was director of comms for Rishi Sunak’s first (unsuccessful) leadership campaign last summer and joined Palantir in August 2022. The tech firm is currently bidding for a huge NHS contract.
Sue Beeby, OnlyFans
The former Tory comms officer was a SpAd to Jeremy Hunt during the coalition years when he was culture secretary and health secretary. She also worked as press secretary to George Osborne while he was chancellor. Beeby left government in 2016 to join Lexington Communications. She is now head of comms at OnlyFans which she joined in December.
Katie O’Donovan, Google
Google’s director of public policy started out in the Labour Party in 2003 where she was a SpAd in the late Blair years. She was also a comms adviser to David Miliband’s leadership campaign in 2010. She went on to head comms for Mumsnet and then joined Google in 2014.
Michaela Neild, Google
Sticking with Google and Labour, the former adviser to Jonathan Ashworth is now a public policy manager and another link between the party and the company. She advised Ashworth while he was shadow secretary of state for health between 2016 and 2018 and also worked in the Labour whips office.
Iain Bundred, YouTube
YouTube’s head of public policy in the U.K. also started out with Labour, working as a researcher and press officer from 2003 to 2008. He was a spokesperson for Gordon Brown when he was prime minister and went into public relations at Ogilvy after the party lost the 2010 election. He joined YouTube in 2020 where he leads on all public policy issues.
John Park, Google Cloud
The ex-Labour MSP for Fife resigned in 2012 to become director of policy at the Community Trade Union but has been working for Big Tech firms since joining Amazon in 2017. He worked in Brussels for the company on labor and skills policy and joined Google as head of public policy for cloud in the U.K. and Ireland in 2021.
Joe Carberry, Deliveroo
Another ex-Labour adviser who worked his way to the top of a tech policy team. Carberry joined Deliveroo in 2017 as head of public affairs in the U.K. and is now vice president for communications and policy. He worked as an adviser to Peter Hain when he was Welsh secretary in 2007 as well as for Jim Murphy as shadow defense secretary from 2010 to 2013. He was the party’s head of research from 2014 to 2015.
Salma Shah, Consultant
Sajid Javid’s former SpAd, turned freelance comms consultant, has advised the likes of Palantir and Epic Games. She was Javid’s special adviser for five years before becoming an independent comms consultant and then joining lobbying group Portland where she was a partner until earlier this year. Now advising Epic on its U.K. comms alongside other consultancy work, she is married to Andrew Smith, former Lord Mayor of Westminster and a local councillor. The pair made POLITICO’s power couple list last year.
Drew Smith, Zoom
Zoom’s government relations lead in the U.K. worked for the Conservative Party, starting out as a parliamentary assistant and becoming a political adviser. He joined Zoom in 2021 to beef up its public affairs efforts in Europe.