Parliamentarians
RAMP supports a wide range of MPs, peers and metro mayors from different parties, different parts of the UK and with different backgrounds. They all have different views on some aspects of immigration policy, but they also hold many views in common and are united in a vision for an effective immigration system which is fair to all.
Advisers
At the heart of RAMP lies a team of policy advisers with experience of parliamentary or regional government procedure, and of immigration policy. They are seconded into the offices of parliamentarians and metro mayors to support their day-to-day work and priorities in this area, and to scrutinise the work of Government.
Board of Directors
RAMP’s Board of Directors are responsible for organisational governance and strategy.
RAMP Core Team
A small team of focussed and committed staff support the work of the organisation on a daily basis.
Politicians
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David Simmonds MP
David has been the Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner since December 2019. He joined RAMP as a Principal in July 2020.
David is a Co-Chair of the APPG on Migration alongside Olivia Blake MP.
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Tim Farron MP
Tim has been the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005, and is a former Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He has been a RAMP Principal since the beginning of the project in 2018.
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The Rt Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr. Guli Francis-Dehqani
The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has served as the Bishop of Chelmsford since April 2021 and has been a member of the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords since November 2021. She joined RAMP as a Principal in 2023.
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Olivia Blake MP
Olivia Blake MP joined RAMP as a Principal in November 2021. She has been the Labour Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam since 2019. Olivia is interested in asylum, migration and refugee policy and its particularly as it affects young people. the LGBTQ+ community and mental health, as well as the links between migration and climate change.
Olivia is a Co-Chair of the APPG on Migration alongside David Simmonds MP.
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Baroness Ruth Lister of Burtersett CBE
Baroness Lister has joined RAMP as an Associate in December 2022. In 1999, she was awarded a CBE for her work on poverty and social exclusion and was appointed as Labour member of the Lords in 2010. She served in the Lords Human Rights Joint Committee and Citizenship and Civic Engagement Committee.
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Baroness Nosheena Mobarik CBE
Baroness Nosheena Mobarik has joined RAMP as an Associate in June 2022. She was appointed as a Conservative Member of the House of Lords in 2014 and served as a Government Whip from 2016 – 2017. In September 2017, she also represented Scotland as Conservative Member of the European Parliament.
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Lord German OBE
Lord German OBE joined RAMP as an Associate in May 2023. He was the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2008 and was appointed as a Liberal Democrat Member of Lords in 2010. In 2015 he was the Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson for Work and Pensions.
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Tony Vaughan KC MP
Tony Vaughan has been the Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe since July 2024 and joined RAMP as a Principal shortly afterwards. Prior to entering Parliament, he worked as a barrister, specialising in immigration law, deprivation of liberty cases, and human trafficking. He is of Filipino heritage.
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Oliver Coppard: Mayor of South Yorkshire
Oliver was elected Mayor of South Yorkshire in May 2022. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority covers the metropolitan boroughs of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley.
He joined RAMP in March 2025.
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Chris Murray MP
Chris has been the Labour MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh since 2024. He joined RAMP in March 2025.
Before his time in Parliament, Chris worked as a senior government relations adviser for the charity Save the Children and was a research fellow at the IPPR Scotland think tank. He also volunteered as chair of the Refugee Survival Trust charity. -
Lord Rees of Easton OBE
Lord Rees joined RAMP as an Associate in September 2025.
He is the Chair for Engagement and Public Affairs on the Mayor’s Migration Council to address global migration challenges. He also served as Mayor of Bristol from 2016 to 2024.
He was appointed as a Labour member of the House of Lords in February 2025.
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Andy Burnham: Mayor of Greater Manchester
Andy Burnham was first elected Mayor of Greater Manchester in May 2017. He was then re-elected for a second term in May 2021 and a third in May 2024.
He joined RAMP in September 2025.
Prior to being Mayor, Andy was MP for Leigh from 2001. In Government, Andy held Ministerial positions at the Home Office, Department of Health and the Treasury.
Advisers
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Heather Staff: Adviser to Tony Vaughan and Baroness Lister of Burtersett
Heather advises both Tony Vaughan MP and Baroness Lister of Burtersett. She is a Labour Councillor in the London Borough of Islington where she serves as a Migrants Champion.
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Nabeel Sheraz: Adviser to David Simmonds and Baroness Mobarik
Nabeel previously worked as Head of Research on the Conservative Mayoral campaign in London. Prior to that, he worked as an economic policy adviser at the Greater London Authority. He has also worked on a number of political campaigns in a mixture of policy and communications roles.
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Angela Afzal: Adviser to Tim Farron and Lord German OBE
Angela has been a RAMP adviser since 2019. She has previously worked as an immigration lawyer and in the voluntary sector supporting asylum seekers and refugees in London.
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Shona Elliott: Adviser to the Bishop of Chelmsford
Shona joined RAMP in December 2020. She was originally an Adviser to the Bishop of Durham before her current role. Shona previously led the public affairs function for a London Borough following working in the private and third sector in campaigning and communication roles.
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Oussama El Fatihi: Adviser to Caroline Nokes
Oussama has previously worked as a researcher and political adviser for a group of Conservative MPs and Peers on issues relating to EU and constitutional affairs.
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Evie Lingwood: Adviser to Olivia Blake
Evie joined RAMP in January 2024 as an Adviser to Olivia Blake MP. She has experience working as a Parliamentary researcher and caseworker for another MP, and working for a leading refugee charity.
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Joseph Banton: Adviser to Baroness Stroud
Joseph joined RAMP in April 2024 . He previously worked in the Home Office and for a senior Conservative MP.
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Dr. Alex Bulat: Adviser to Chris Murray
Alex is a migration researcher with third sector experience in migrants' rights and democratic engagement. She co-founded a migrants-led organisation and has served as County Councillor and Migrants Champion in Cambridgeshire - as well as standing as a Labour Candidate at the general election. She joined the RAMP team in January 2025.
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Sean Benstead: Senior Policy Adviser to the Mayor of South Yorkshire Combined Authority
Sean joined the RAMP team in June 2025. He was previously a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), where he worked closely with local authorities and public institutions across the UK to support progressive models of local economic development.
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Bea Forrester: Policy Adviser for the Migration Team at Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Bea joined RAMP in September 2025, bringing with her extensive experience in politics and the third sector. She has previously worked for several Labour MPs, both in Westminster and their constituencies, and has led policy development and national campaigning for a refugee charity.
Board of Directors
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Sue Rubenstein: Chair
Sue is an very experienced Non-Executive Director, having spent 20 years in a range of board roles, with expertise in strategic leadership and organisational development.
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Awale Olad
Awale is currently a Senior Manager at Vialto Partners immigration advisory firm and a Councillor in the London Borough of Camden. He has previously worked for both Deloitte and the Migrant Rights Network.
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Sarah Mulley
Sarah has worked as an Executive Director at the Greater London Authority and an Associate Director at the IPPR think tank and currently serves as a strategic adviser for a number of other policy organisations.
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Rosie Evans
Rosie is the Director of Strategy at Resurgo, a coaching and impact management charity. Previously a strategy consultant at Bain & Company and the Good Faith Partnership, she has worked at a number of charities and social enterprises where she specialised in designing and delivering programmes to deliver sustainable social change at scale.
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Adam Stewart
Adam is currently an External Sales/Risk Manager based in London, with a robust background as a Chartered Accountant from South Africa. He is dedicated to driving business growth across the UK, leveraging his expertise in financial analysis, risk management, and client engagement. Working at Investec Bank, Adam excels in structuring transactions and forging relationships with brokers and clients.
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Simon Fell
Simon Fell was the Conservative MP for Barrow-in- Furness from 2019 to 2024. He served as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee and as the Prime Minister's Anti-Fraud Champion. He is now the Director of Fraud and Financial Crime at Fullbrook Strategies and joined the RAMP board in October 2025.
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Ian Robinson
Ian is a Partner at Vialto Partners, the international law firm specialising in global mobility. Ian specialises in immigration law and before joining Vialto he has held several roles in the Home Office including Assistant Director on Economic Migration.
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Roudie Shafie
Roudie is a senior leader in public affairs and communications in the life sciences sector. She works with key stakeholders and builds alliances on complex regulation, legislation and policy matters in the UK and EU. Before moving to the life sciences sector, Roudie worked in immigration and integration policy, as a senior policy officer for the Mayor of London and prior to that, as the coordinator of a local refugee and migrant umbrella organisation and as one of the first Trustees of the Asylum Support Appeals Project.
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Alasdair Murray
Alasdair is Director Of External Affairs at KPMG UK. He was previously a Director at Quiller Consultants, Director of CentreForum, Deputy Director of the Centre for European Reform and the Economics and Brussels correspondent at The Times. He also serves as the Chair of British Future think tank.
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James Hedgeland
James is a Director at Flint Global. Prior to this he was a Director at Hanbury Strategy and was also a Special Adviser in Government, covering immigration issues in the Home Office and HM Treasury.
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David Barclay
David is a Partner at the Good Faith Partnership where he leads of a variety of projects involving research, innovation and strategy. He has been a Community Organiser in East London where he worked on money and debt issues, and is a former President of the Oxford University Student Union.
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Aminah Mehboob
Aminah is a Consultant at Flint Global. Prior to this, Aminah worked as a policy adviser in the Department for Transport across all modes and, more recently, on Infrastructure Planning Reform. She has also worked in the House of Commons as a researcher.
RAMP Core Team
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Laura Taylor: Executive Director
Laura joined RAMP in May 2020. She has previously worked in policy, advocacy and campaigning roles in the international development sector, and in public affairs roles in the private sector, and served on the Board of The Climate Coalition. Laura works from London.
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Nabila Haque: Communications and Events Officer
Nabila joined the RAMP team in April 2024. She has previously worked as a Media and Communications lead at Mind, and was involved in community organising for young migrants during her time at university. Nabila works from London.
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Sabrina Huck: Engagement Adviser
Sabrina joined RAMP in November 2021 as an adviser to Olivia Blake MP, moving to become our first Strategic Engagement Adviser in 2023. Prior to joining RAMP, she worked as a political consultant in a London-based public affairs agency; as a freelance writer, covering migration policy; and with grassroots movements fighting for change in the sector. Sabrina works from London.
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Emma Clarke: Executive Assistant
Emma joined RAMP as an Executive Assistant on a part-time basis in October 2025. She has worked in a number of project and support roles in the charity sector in the UK and abroad, with a focus on grant making in London since 2014 and most recently in the migration and refugee sector. Emma works remotely.
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Charlie Winstanley: Programme Manager-Mayoral Secondment Programme
Based in Manchester, Charlie worked as a political adviser to the Mayor of Salford and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Paul Dennett for 8 years, followed by a stint as Head of Regional Economic Change at the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES). Charlie works from Manchester.
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Jamil Keating: Operations Manager
Jamil joined the RAMP team in March 2025. He has previous operational management experience in a range of cultural and not-for-profit organisations and has also been a refugee caseworker. Jamil works from Manchester.