The range of senior academic, professional, political, and theatrical figures who serve as visiting lecturers at Wroxton during the various programmes run at the College is such that Wroxton students will have contact with a more diverse range of speakers than will most British students. Students have ample opportunities to meet informally with the speakers at lunch or over morning or afternoon tea.
Below is a partial listing of those who have been guest speakers at the College.
Baroness Jay of Paddington
Baroness Jay was a journalist on the BBC’s prestigious Panorama programme, and Thames Television’s This Week, and presented the BBC 2 series Social History of Medicine. She has a strong interest in health issues, notably as a campaigner on HIV and AIDS. She was a founder director of the National AIDS Trust in 1987 and is also a patron of Help the Aged.
She was Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution, 2010-15, Leader of the House of Lords (and Minister for Women) 1998-2001, Health Spokesperson and Minister for Women 1997-1998 and Director of the National Aids Trust, 1988-92. She was created a Life Peer (Labour), in 1992.
Baroness Jay is the daughter of Prime Minister James Callaghan and the former wife of the British Ambassador to the USA, Peter Jay, 1977-1979.
Michael Cockerell
Michael Cockerell is the BBC’s most established political documentary maker, with a long, award-winning career of political programming spanning both television and radio.
Having been a reporter on the flagship current affairs programme Panorama his speciality is in-depth documentaries on the politics and players of Westminster. Most notably, he has filmed biographical profiles of Edward Heath, Alan Clark, Barbara Castle, Roy Jenkins, Michael Howard and David Cameron and Boris Johnson.
He has interviewed eight Prime Ministers, more than any other reporter in British political broadcasting.
Michael has won numerous broadcasting awards for his many films from within the corridors of power and about the inner workings of government.
Michael was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of East Anglia in 2007.
Dilwar Hussain
Hussain served as Founding Chair of New Horizons in British Islam, a charity that works for reform in Muslim thought and practice. He was a Senior Programme Advisor to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue; a Research Fellow at the Lokahi Foundation; and an Associate of the Centre of Islamic Studies, Cambridge University. Hussain has advised dozens of government departments and think tanks, as well as led numerous research projects over the last decade.
He publishes, teaches and regularly speaks on issues relating to Islam in contemporary Britain.
The Rt. Hon. Lord Butler of Brockwell
Lord Butler entered the Civil Service in 1961. He was Private Secretary to Prime Minister Edward Heath between 1972 and 1974, to Prime Minister Harold Wilson between 1974 and 1975, Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher between 1982 and 1985, and Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury between 1985 and 1987. He served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service from 1988 until 1998 during the Premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair.
He was appointed a Life peer in 1998.
In 2004 he was Chair of the inquiry into the use of intelligence in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq War.
Antony Penrose
The son of Sir Roland Penrose and Lee Miller, Antony is director of the Lee Miller Archive and Penrose Collection and has written numerous books, articles and two plays on the subject of his parents and their associates. He is most notable for his 1985 book, The Lives of Lee Miller. The 2023 film, Lee, staring Kate Winslett was based on Antony’s biography of his mother.
In the late 1960s Antony took pictures of famous artists including Picasso, Joan Miró and Man Ray. Later on he was introduced to film-making, working on films such as Kings Horses and Migrate to Survive.
He established Penrose Film Productions Ltd which primarily focuses on documentaries, technical films and drama shorts.
Matthew Cadbury
Matthew is Managing Director of Continuity Family Business Consulting in the UK, leading the practice in Northern/Western Europe where he consults family firms on succession planning and governance development. His work with clients is informed by his work as a Director of both public and private companies and extensive international experience in his own family’s business, which after five generations, was sold. As a fifth generation Cadbury family member, Matthew served as development director at Cadbury Schweppes for over a decade.
In addition, Matthew has served as director of both private and public UK businesses and qualified with distinction as a Chartered Director at the Institute of Directors.
Matthew conducts research on and teaches about trade and international business at the University of Hertfordshire. He was a director of UN Women UK, a charity that supports the work of the United Nations women’s organization that is dedicated to empowering women worldwide.
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Beckett, GBE
Baroness Beckett has been a Member of Parliament for more than 45 years, first from 1974-1979 and again from 1983-2004. A member of the Labour Party, she was the United Kingdom’s first female foreign secretary, and served as a minister under Prime Ministers Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown.
Now a member of the House of Lords, Baroness Beckett has an extensive parliamentary portfolio:
Housing Minister (Oct 2008 – Jun 2009); Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (May 2006 – Jun 2007); Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Jun 2001 – May 2006); Leader of the House of Commons (Jan 1998 – Jun 2001); President of the Board of Trade (Jan 1997 – Jan 1998); Shadow Secretary of State for Health (Jan 1994 – Jan 1995); Acting Leader, Labour Party (Jan 1994); Deputy Leader, Labour Party (Jan 1992 – Jan 1994); Shadow Minister, Social Security (Jan 1984 – Jan 1989); Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Education/Science (1976-79)
Jonathon Porritt (CBE)
Jonathon Porritt is a writer and campaigner for sustainable development. He is focused on intergenerational justice and supporting young people in their activities around sustainable development issues.
He is President of The Conservation Volunteers and Population Matters, and is involved in the work of many other NGOs and groups.
Jonathon was formerly Co-Chair of the Green Party (1980-83) and Director of Friends of the Earth (1984-90). He was a Board Member of The Southwest Regional Development Agency between 1999 and 2008.
He stood down as Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission in 2009, after nine years providing high-level advice to Government Ministers. He served a ten-year term as Chancellor of Keele University (2012-2022).
Jonathon was awarded a CBE in January 2000 for services to environmental protection.
Polly Toynbee
Polly Toynbee is one of the country’s leading journalists – named ‘Columnist of the Year’ at the 2007 British Press Awards – and is a columnist of the Guardian, a position she has held since 1998.
Previously she was columnist and associate editor of The Independent, co-editor of the Washington Monthly and a reporter and feature writer for The Observer.
Between 1988 and 1997 she was BBC social affairs editor.
Polly’s latest book (co-authored with David Walker) is The Only Way is Up – How to take Britain from Austerity to Prosperity.
Rabiha Hannan
Rabiha is a Trustee of New Horizons in British Islam, a forward-thinking organisation that engages in critical discussions around identity, tradition and reform, to provide a positive, contextual vision of what it means to be a Muslim in Britain today.
While studying for an MA in Muslim Community Studies, Rabiha specialised in gender issues and pluralism.
She is coordinator of The Respect Programme, an online resource for secondary schools, and co-edited the book ‘Islam and the Veil’ (Continuum, 2011). A pharmacist by training, she has been Vice-Chair and Chair of the Leicester Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education, and was part of the Implementation Group which led to the formation of the National Christian-Muslim Forum. In 2014 she gained an award for her work in interfaith work.