Wilton Park

"Wilton Park began its work on 12 January 1946 as part of an initiative inspired by Sir Winston Churchill, the wartime Prime Minister, who had called in 1944 for Britain to help establish a successful democracy in Germany after the Second War. Wilton Park's role as a beacon for democracy in Europe was enthusiastically supported by Ernest Bevin (pictured left), the Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government...

"From 1957 Wilton Park's agenda covered not just Europe, but also Asia and Africa. The scope widened still further in 1961, thanks to a major grant from the Ford Foundation, when North American participants began coming in increasing and enthusiastic numbers, and the transatlantic link became a core part of the agenda, as it is today.

"While the geographic scope has been widened, the focus on Europe has remained undiminished. Following Britain's entry into what is now the European Union in 1973, Prime Minister Edward Heath, a strong supporter of Wilton Park, and the French President, Georges Pompidou, agreed that issues concerning the enlargement of the community should be addressed at a European Discussion Centre (EDC) based at Wilton Park. The spirit of the EDC continues as part of Wilton Park's European agenda.

"Sir Heinz Koeppler continued to run Wilton Park until his retirement in 1977, to be succeeded as Director by Timothy Slack (1977-1983), and then by Geoffrey Denton (1983-1993), Richard Langhorne (1993-1996), Colin Jennings (1996-2006), Adam Noble (2006), Donald Lamont (2007-2009) and the current Chief Executive is Richard Burge from September 2009."


 * Chair - Iain Ferguson

Advisory Council
Accessed December 2011:


 * Rachel Briggs, Director, Hostage UK and Freelance Researcher
 * Nik Gowing, Journalist and Broadcaster
 * Mary Jo Jacobi, Chair, Heinz Koeppler Trust
 * Rupert H. W. Robson, Company Director
 * Farhan Nizami, Director, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
 * Philippe J. Sands QC, Professor of Law
 * Sir Stephen Wall GCMG LVO
 * Myles Wickstead CBE
 * Owen Tudor, Head, TUC European Union and International relations Department
 * Paul Evans, Director Intervention of the Serious Organised Crime Agency
 * Victor Sebestyen, Journalist and Writer
 * Colin Blakemore, Professor of Neuroscience
 * Tim Livesey, Secretary for International Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury
 * Michael Leigh, Director General, European Commission
 * Robert Picciotto, Professor

Foreign and Commonwealth Office members:


 * Anna Clunes, Head of Corporate Communications Department

Visiting Program Directors (2011)
Accessed December 2011:


 * Anne Bader
 * Simon Harris
 * Julian Lindley-French
 * Julian Lindley-French
 * Myles Wickstead
 * Gary Wilton
 * Michael Winter
 * Jan Martin Witte
 * Jan Martin
 * Akiko Yamanaka

Contact
URL: http://www.wiltonpark.org.uk

Related Sourcewatch

 * Wilton Park USA
 * David Bryer