Neil O'Brien

Neil O'Brien is Director of the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange. He was appointed in August 2008, succeeding Anthony Browne and Nicholas Boles in this role.

O'Brien was previously, between 2005–2008, Director of Open Europe, a think tank working for free market reform in Europe. He grew up in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and took a first in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, at Christ Church, Oxford.

In March 2010, O'Brien co-authored a wide-ranging book called The Renewal of Government.^[1] It was praised by Michael Gove, then Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and now Secretary of State for Education, who said that it “lays down with admirable clarity and form a set of radical policies ... which in the field of education I think are peerless”.^[2]

O'Brien often comments on political issues in print and on broadcast. He writes a regular blog for the Daily Telegraph^[3] and has written in the Financial Times,^[4] the Guardian^[5] and the Times.^[6] He has appeared on BBC Newsnight,^{[7][8][9][10]} Sky News^[11] and Channel Four news.^[12] He has spoken on BBC radio programmes including The Moral Maze^[13] and the Today Programme.^[14][15][16] He has commented on a broad range of issues including public spending, welfare reform, housing, education and the environment. He tweets on public policy as “NeilDotObrien.”^[17]

Neil O'Brien was ranked number 14 in Total Politics’ poll of the top 50 political influencers in Britain,^[18] named in The Daily Telegraph as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential people on the Right",^[19] in the Sunday Times as one of the “New Political Elite”^[20] and as one of the Evening Standard's "Power 1000 of London’s New Influentials".^[21]

References

1. ^ "Publications". Policy Exchange. 10 March 2010. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/publications/publication.cgi?id=176. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
2. ^ "Kanaal van PolicyExchangeUK". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/PolicyExchangeUK#p/u/0/KoonbbuUqKU. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
3. ^ "Neil O'Brien – Telegraph Blogs". Blogs.telegraph.co.uk. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/neilobrien1/. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
4. ^ "/ Comment / Opinion – Give the falling property market a push". Financial Times. 3 August 2010. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ad4dec10-9f32-11df-8732-00144feabdc0.html. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
5. ^ "Neil O'Brien: Cameronism puts family first | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. UK. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/01/davidcameron.conservatives2. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
6. ^ Post. "The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion". The Times. UK. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7052482.ece. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
7. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 4 December 2009. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=888. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
8. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 15 December 2009. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=901. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
9. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 14 January 2010. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=987. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
10. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 26 March 2010. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=1165. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
11. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 20 October 2010. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=1581. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
12. ^ "Immigration cap 'puts economic recovery at risk' – Channel 4 News". Channel4.com. 9 September 2010. http://www.channel4.com/news/immigration-cap-puts-economic-recovery-at-risk. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
13. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 10 November 2010. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=1625. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
14. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 15 December 2009. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=898. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
15. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 15 May 2010. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=1210. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
16. ^ "In the news". Policy Exchange. 11 September 2010. http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/news/news.cgi?id=1485. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
17. ^ "Neil O'Brien (@NeilDotObrien) op Twitter". Twitter. https://twitter.com/NeilDotObrien. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
18. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
19. ^ "Top 100 most influential Right-wingers: 100-76". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/8037201/Top-100-most-influential-Right-wingers-100-76.html. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
20. ^ Post. "The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion". The Times. UK. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7133842.ece. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
21. ^ "The One Thousand – Politics". Evening Standard. London. 10 November 2009. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/article-23764840-the-one-thousand---politics.do. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 

External links

• Neil O'Brien

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