Mark Littlewood

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Mark James Littlewood (born 28 April 1972) is a British political figure and former director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a free‑market think tank that is also a charity. He previously served as the Liberal Democrats’ chief press spokesman and worked for the Pro‑Euro Conservative Party. He started with pro‑European views but later became eurosceptic and supported voting Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

As IEA director, he was recorded offering foreign donors access to British ministers, which led to a Charity Commission inquiry and questions about the IEA’s charity status.

Education and early life: He attended The Forest School in Winnersh, Berkshire. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he met Liz Truss. He led the UK branch of the Young European Federalists in 1996.

Career path: He worked for the European Movement and led campaigns at Liberty. He was involved with NO2ID during a sabbatical. He became head of media for the Liberal Democrats in 2004 and resigned in 2007 after saying proportional representation should not block coalition talks. He led Liberal Vision before joining the IEA as director in 2009. He has appeared on BBC Question Time.

Controversies: He has argued against heavy regulation of tobacco companies, and the IEA has received money from tobacco firms, which critics say creates a conflict of interest. In 2017 and 2018 he was listed among influential right‑wing figures in Britain. In 2018 he was secretly recorded saying the IEA helps with Brexit influence and could connect donors to government officials. An investigation by Unearthed said the IEA worked with US donors to push Brexit plans. In 2019 the Charity Commission formally warned the IEA for political campaigning outside its educational purpose.

Later career: He was reportedly considered for a peerage in Liz Truss’s resignation honours but was not included in the list published in December 2023. He stepped down as IEA director in August 2023. As of February 2024, he was the director of Popular Conservatism, a faction within the Conservative Party.