Liam Gavin Grant (born 20 June 1955) is a British public relations professional and from January 2012 to 25 February 2014 was Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. [1] Grant is a former UK Chairman of PR firm Burson-Marsteller. [2]
Grant was brought up on a south London council estate though had moved from the estate by the time he was attending secondary school. His mother was a needleshop-worker and his father was a cellophane salesman. Grant was educated at Roan Grammar School for Boys (1966–1973) and the University of Reading (1973–1977). [3]
He was a member of the Young Liberals and became the University of Reading's youngest student union president.
After graduating, he joined an anti-racism campaign group and reported for the Thatcher government on community race relations.
From 1987-88 he was campaigns director at the Council for the Protection of Rural England. He worked as director of communications for the RSPCA from 1988-91. In 1991, he joined as public affairs director at the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds.
He worked as corporate communications manager at The Body Shop International from 1993 to 1999, where he campaigned against the use of animal testing for cosmetics. As UK chairman of PR company Burson-Marsteller from 2006 to 2011, his corporate clients included Unilever, and he helped establish its corporate social responsibility unit. [4]
Gavin Grant has been a lifelong member of the Liberal Party and its successor the Liberal Democrats. [5] He chaired the Western Counties regional party in 2011.
Grant has advised successive Liberal Democrat leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, [6] and in 2007 he was part of Clegg's campaign to become party leader. [5]
He was elected to Wiltshire Council as the councillor for Malmesbury at the 2017 Wiltshire Council election. [7]
He lives in Wiltshire and rents a flat in Horsham, West Sussex.[ citation needed ]
Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg is a British media executive and former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam from 2005 to 2017. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been associated with both socially liberal and economically liberal policies. In 2018, Clegg became vice‑president of global affairs and communications at Facebook Inc, before being promoted in 2022 to president for global affairs.
Peter Robert Henry Mond, 4th Baron Melchett, also known as Peter Melchett, was an English farmer, jurist and politician. He succeeded to the title of Baron Melchett in 1973.
Christopher John Rennard, Baron Rennard, is a British life peer in the House of Lords, appointed to the Liberal Democrats' benches in 1999. He was Director of Campaigns & Elections for the Liberal Democrats from 1989 to 2003, and Chief Executive of the party from 2003 to 2009.
Quinn Gillespie & Associates (QGA) was an American lobbying and communications firm founded in 2000 by Republican political strategist Ed Gillespie and Democratic operative Jack Quinn. It was sold in 2004 to WPP, one of the world's largest communications services groups, and ceased operations in December 2017.
Peter Skovholt Gitmark is a Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party. He is currently a representative of Vest-Agder in the Storting, first elected in 2005. He was elected a reserve candidate in the previous period, but took Ansgar Gabrielsen's place when Gabrielsen was a cabinet minister.
Timothy Francis Clement-Jones, Baron Clement-Jones, is a Liberal Democrat peer and spokesman for the digital economy in the House of Lords.
Burson Cohn & Wolfe is a multinational public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City. In February 2018, parent WPP Group PLC announced that it had merged its subsidiaries Cohn & Wolfe with Burson-Marsteller. The combined agency is now known as Burson Cohn & Wolfe.
Peter Galbraith Kelly Sr. is an American lobbyist and political consultant. He received the 2015 Luminary Award in The World Affairs Council of CT.
Ryan Nicolas Coetzee is a South African politician and political strategist, who served as special adviser to Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Nick Clegg and was the 2015 General Election Director of Strategy at Liberal Democrat HQ. In 2016, he was director of strategy for the campaign for the UK to remain in the EU.
Duncan John Hames is a Director of Policy at Transparency International UK and a former Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Chippenham constituency in Wiltshire from 2010 to 2015. Between 2012 and 2015, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Clegg when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
Julie E. Cram is a Deputy Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3) at the United States Agency for International Development. She is a former lobbyist for DDR Advocacy and a Republican Party operative who worked for former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Jonathan Oates, Baron Oates is a British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords. A past chief of staff to the former deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg, he was previously the director of policy and communications at the Liberal Democrats.
Kathryn Jane Parminter, Baroness Parminter is a Liberal Democrat life peer, and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
Sunil John is the founder of ASDA'A BCW and President - Middle East of BCW owned by the $20.7 billion WPP Group.
PSB Insights is a consultancy firm founded in 1997 by Mark Penn and Douglas Schoen.
Robert Stephen "Bob" Leaf was an American public relations executive. He is best known for creating the international network of offices which made Burson-Marsteller the world's largest public relations firm in the 1980s, where he eventually rose to be international chairman. Debrett's have recognised him as one of Britain's 500 most influential people.
Roland Dacre Rudd is the founder and chairman of Finsbury, a public relations firm. Rudd was educated at Oxford University, becoming President of the Oxford Union before starting a career in journalism that he left to found Finsbury. He sold that company to WPP plc in 2001, making an estimated £40 million.
Michiel Frans van Hulten is Director of Transparency International EU and a former Dutch politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (1999–2004) and was chairman of the Labour Party from December 2005 until April 2007.
Curtis S. Chin is a public figure, speaker, author and policy specialist. He has served in leadership and operational positions in the private, not-for-profit and public sectors in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States. He served as the 15th United States Ambassador to and member of the board of directors of the Asian Development Bank under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He also served as a trustee of World Education Services and is the inaugural Asia Fellow of the Milken Institute.
Mike Fernandez is a business executive who has led communications, marketing, government relations and sustainability for a number of large companies. Fernandez also served as the US CEO for two agencies, Burson-Marsteller and Llorente y Cuenca. He was a full-time professor of practice at Boston University and an adjunct professor at several universities. He currently is the senior vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability at Enbridge which is headquartered in Calgary, AB, Canada.