Profile

Political

Tim was Chair of the Association of Liberal Lawyers 1982-86 and then of the Liberal Party from 1986-88 and played a major part in the merger with the Social Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democrats.  He was made CBE for political services in 1988 and a life peer in 1998.  He was the Chair of the Liberal Democrats Finance Committee from 1989-98 and Federal Treasurer of the Liberal Democrats from 2005-10.

Until July 2004, he was the Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson and thereafter until 2010 Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Culture, Media and Sport, in the House of Lords.  He is a former Spokesperson on the Creative Industries (2015-17) and is the current Liberal Democrat House of Lords Digital Spokesperson.

Tim is former Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence which sat from 2017 to 2018; a current member of the House of Lords Select Committee on Risk Assessment and Planning; and former member of the Select Committees on Communications (2011-15) and the Built Environment (2015-16).  He Co-Chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence with Stephen Metcalfe MP; is Deputy Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on China; and Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Digital Regulation and Responsibility; the Future of Work; Music; Ovarian Cancer; Ticket Abuse; Performers Alliance and Writers.  He is Treasurer for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Intellectual Property and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Poverty.

Tim is a founding member of the OECD Parliamentary Group on AI and a Consultant to the Council of Europe’s Ad-hoc Committee on AI ("CAHAI").  He is a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center which focusses on technology, altruism, geopolitics and competition.

He introduced and ensured the passage through the House of Lords of the 2003 Tobacco Advertising and Sponsorship Act and the Live Music Act 2012.

Business

Tim is Chair of Ombudsman Services, the not for profit, independent ombudsman service that provides dispute resolution for the communications, energy, and parking industries.  He is a consultant of global law firm, DLA Piper where former positions held include London Managing Partner (2011-16), Head of UK Government Affairs, Chairman of its China and Middle East Desks, International Business Relations Partner and Co-Chairman of Global Government Relations.  He is Programme Chair Innovation Governor for Big Innovation Centre India Pvt Ltd.  He is a member of the Business Advisory Board of KCS Europe Group Ltd.  He is a member of the Advisory Board of Airmic (Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in Industry and Commerce) and Board Member of the Corporate Finance Faculty of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales ("ICAEW") where he also Chairs their AI in Corporate Advisory – Expert Consultative Group. 

Tim was Group Company Secretary and Legal Adviser of Kingfisher Plc from 1986-95, where he coordinated Kingfisher's contribution to the Shopping Hours Reform Campaign which led to the Sunday Trading Act 1993.  Before Kingfisher, Tim held senior legal positions at Grand Metropolitan, now Diageo plc (Legal Director, Grand Metropolitan Retailing 1984-86) and London Weekend Television (Head of Legal Services 1980-83) now part of ITV plc.

Tim is a former Non-Executive Chair of the Context Group (1997-05), the environmental strategy and communications consultancy and former Director of Political Context, the political communications consultancy (1996-99).

Education, Charitable and Voluntary

Tim is Chair of Council of Queen Mary University of London ("QMUL").  He was Chair of the Advisory Council of the former Institute for Ethical AI in Education ("IEAIED"), led by Sir Anthony Seldon which published its final report in March 2021.  He is a former Chair of Council of the School of Pharmacy, University of London (2008-12) before its merger with University College London, whereupon he became an external member of the Council of University College London and Chair of its Audit Committee (2012-17).  He is a member of the Advisory Board of the College of Medicine and an Honorary Fellow of the School of Pharmacy, University College London.

Tim is President of Ambitious About Autism (formerly Treehouse) an autism education charity and school for children with autism and other communication disorders and its former Chair.

Tim is a Council Member of the Heart of the City; Fellow of the Public Relations Consultants Association and Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations; Governor of Haileybury and an Ambassador for Barts Charity.  He is a former Trustee of the Barbican Centre Trust (2012-16) and former Chair of Crime Concern (1991-95).  Until its merger with Macmillan Cancer Support in 2008, he was a Trustee of Cancerbackup, the UK cancer information charity founded by his late wife, Dr Vicky Clement-Jones FRCP.

He is a Patron of Attitude is Everything; Music Venue Trust, 2020Health and Westminster eForum.

Research