Our team bring their experience, insight and political network to provide senior counsel and expert advice.

MANAGING DIRECTOR


Board DIRECTOR


Board DIRECTOR


JENNY RIDDELL-CARPENTER
BOARD DIRECTOR

Board Director


David Henig
Advisory Council Member

David Button
Senior Account Director

DAVID FANTHORPE
SENIOR CONSULTANT

LESLIE WERTHEIMER
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

samir dwesar
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

Oliver hazell
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

Thomas Woolhouse
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

Sabrina Huck
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

yerin seo
Senior Account executive

Jack Spriggs
Senior Account Executive

Abigail Simons
Account Executive

Olivia Choudhry
Account Executive

chloe bester
Monitoring assistant

Alex Challoner
Managing Director
A political strategist with more than twenty years’ experience in public affairs and communications advocacy, Alex provides clients with senior counsel to ensure policy supports their corporate aims, be that policy change or raising their profile on key issues.
As a former adviser to the Conservative Party during the 1997 General Election Campaign, Conservative Campaign Director of the London Mayoral Campaign in 2000 and current Board Member of the Tory Reform Group, Alex has a comprehensive knowledge of the key figures and the trends and power-bases within the Party.
He has advised clients such the Met Office, John Lewis Partnership, Canal & River Trust, Crest Nicholson, Aster Group and Arvato.

Gareth Morgan
Board Director
Gareth has over a decade’s experience in advising leading brands on relations with policy-makers in Westminster and Whitehall. Prior to working in public affairs he was a think tank researcher and as such he is the agency lead on developing thought leadership content for clients to underpin profile raising and network building.
As a Labour activist he has advised on Labour London Mayoral selection, Parliamentary and London Assembly campaigns and stood as a local election candidate.
He has broad sectoral experience having advised a range of brands including Starbucks, Google, Infosys, East Midlands Airport, the Business Travel Association, London School of Economics and Keolis UK.

James Bird
Board Director
James has over a decade’s experience in delivering award-winning public affairs and advocacy campaigns for clients across multiple sectors.
A former councillor and two-time parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party, James has been involved in the last five general election campaigns. From thought leadership and profile raising to stakeholder engagement, media training and crisis communications, he is well versed across the communications spectrum.
This is supported by an enviable network of media contacts, secured through reporting as a freelance broadcast journalist for the BBC. He has advised clients such as Stonewater Housing Association, Midlands Connect, GEMS Education, Northamptonshire Local Enterprise Partnership, West Midlands Combined Authority, Bovis Homes.

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter
Board Director - Head of Corporate Communications
Jenny has more than a decade’s experience in corporate relations, both in-house and in an agency setting. She previously led public affairs programmes for the housing association L&Q, helping to position the London based organisation with No.10 and the Treasury.
She has led campaigns for high profile brands, including Sainsburys, the Co-operative Group, Luton Airport and Biggin Hill Airport, as well as a range of third sector clients. In 2019, her work with client Communities that Work saw recognition with three national awards, highlighting the role housing associations play in helping deliver employment support.

Stephen Pomeroy
Board Director
Stephen is the founder and CEO of BECG. As a member of the Cavendish board he provides strategic leadership counsel to the team and clients. As an innovator in communications, Stephen is focused on driving the value of new technology and platforms for government relations.
A high-level strategist with more than 25 years’ communications experience in political, business, stakeholder, digital and media communications, Stephen has advised FTSE companies, CEOs and company boards and delivered award-winning campaigns that have supported clients to achieve their commercial objectives.
A devoted supporter of corporate social responsibility, Stephen has advised organisations on cause-related marketing and advocacy. He was previously a trustee of the UK and International charities Fixers and the Global White Lion Trust, and currently provides strategic support for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Endangered Species. Stephen is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Institute of Directors.

Matthew Crisp
Associate Director - REGIONs
Matthew is a communications and engagement specialist with in-house and agency experience across the public, private and third sector. He has devised and managed the delivery of strategies and campaigns for a number of public bodies, effectively engaging with a wide range of audiences to achieve results across the UK.
His agency experience includes leading the delivery of public affairs and corporate communications support for West Midlands Combined Authority, South Tyneside Council Highways England and Midlands connect.
Prior to his current role, Matthew was Communications Manager at Transport for the North with experience spanning the organisation’s communications and stakeholder engagement activity from inception through to its establishment as England’s first statutory Sub-national Transport Body.

David Fanthorpe
Senior Consultant
David has had a distinguished career in public affairs, having worked at director level in leading public affairs and PR consultancies. He has been an Associate with Cavendish since 2006 and provides senior counsel to clients on the workings of Government.

Leslie Wertheimer
Account Director
Leslie brings nearly a decade of international experience working in corporate communications and public affairs. She has a proven track record of delivering strategies that establish brands and guide public opinion across a wide range of sectors.
Leslie previously led communications for the expansion programme at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago – the world’s busiest airport – as well as the largest technology transition in U.S. lottery industry history. She has also held key communications roles in government and on political campaigns at the state and federal level in the U.S.

Samir DWESar
Senior Account Manager
Samir has extensive experience of business and politics having worked in corporate affairs at KPMG, where he advised on political and public policy developments across a range of issues, including social mobility, apprenticeships and the Industrial Strategy. He also managed the firm’s party conference activity.
He has a broad Westminster network and campaign experience, having worked in Parliament for the former Brexit Secretary and now Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay MP, as well as through his involvement in local politics and the EU referendum campaign.

Oliver Hazell
Senior Account Manager
Oliver has more than three years’ experience in public affairs and complements this industry experience with local, regional and national campaigning for both the Conservative Party and ‘Remain’ during the EU referendum.
He is a former Campaign Manager and local Association Chairman for the Conservative Party in North West London and was the Deputy Field Director for London for Britain Stronger In Europe. Oliver remains involved with the Conservative Party at a local and regional level.

Thomas Woolhouse
Senior Account Manager
Thomas is an experienced public affairs professional and has worked across a broad range of sectors including financial services, pharmacy, aviation and the creative industries.
He is a Conservative activist, campaigned for Leave in the EU referendum and has a background in Parliament working for Conservative MPs.

Sabrina Huck
Account Manager
Sabrina has more than 5 years’ experience advising clients on policy development, legislation and reputation management utilising her knowledge of UK and European politics.
As a leading Left-wing campaigner and commentator she brings invaluable insight into the ethical expectations of brands and experience of the development of politics and campaigning on digital platforms.

yerin seo
SENIOR Account Executive
Yerin brings experience delivering national public affairs, strategic communications and crisis communications in the property, social housing, infrastructure and environment sectors. She plays a key role in shaping campaigns, delivering communications strategies and leading political stakeholder engagement.

Abigail Simons
Account Executive
Abigail brings experience of working in public affairs for a London-based housing association and as an assistant to an MP in Parliament. She recently completed a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning and brings strong political insight and understanding of parliamentary processes. She works with a wide range of clients assisting with political monitoring, events management, and research.

Olivia Choudhry
Account Executive
Olivia has a BA in International Relations from King’s College London. During University, she was involved in civic activism as part of the Intersectional Feminist Society, the Action Palestine Society and various charities. She has volunteered with the Conservative Party at both a Constituency Office and a Mayoral Campaign.
Olivia has experience working within Communications and Marketing, having worked on Awards and Summits catered towards gender inequality in prominent industry sectors. At Cavendish Advocacy, she works with a wide array of clients across sectors and aids her teams through political monitoring, research and client relations.

Chloe bester
Monitoring Assistant
Chloe is studying Politics and International Relations at the University of Bath and is currently our undergraduate placement student for 2020/21. She previously worked for W Communications, a PR agency, within the Enterprise Team. At university, Chloe was involved with the youth leadership summit One Young World Bath and continues to contribute political comments to the university’s magazine. Chloe supports the Cavendish team with all our monitoring requirements, as well as research and event management.

David Henig
Advisory Council Member
David Henig is Director of the UK Trade Project and had a 10 year career in the civil service that included being a negotiator on the EU/USA Trade Deal, developing policy on sensitive international investment into the UK, working on G8/G7 meetings and establishing the Department for International Trade after the referendum. He co-founded the UK Trade Forum and is a leading commentator on trade issues across UK and International media.

Jack Spriggs
Senior Account Executive
Jack Spriggs is a political campaigner with 8 years of experience running local, regional and national campaigns for MPs and candidates, for the Conservative Party, and for global brands. Specialising in grassroots, digital activity, Jack has experience building cross-party campaigns; he worked as a regional organiser for Britain Stronger in Europe in 2016.
Away from party politics, Jack has delivered award-winning community engagement programmes, created digital content, and delivered complex sustainability projects for a FTSE 100 firm.
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