Paul has been a member of Kent County Council since 1997 and became leader in October 2005. Prior to assuming leadership, Paul held responsibility for the education portfolio, and he remains especially committed to transforming education, overseeing the introduction of a new 14-16 vocation educational programme in Kent. In September 2008, Paul was elected chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly, and following the dissolution of the Assembly he was elected the first chairman of South East England Councils.

Outside local government, Paul still runs a number of land-related businesses in property, construction, and retail in London. Paul was also a founding partner of Gander PLC, the first property company on AIM (Alternative Investment Market).

Mike has lived in the Wycombe area for 30 years and has been a member of Buckinghamshire County Council for 16 years. Since 1999, he has also been a Conservative member of Wycombe District Council. He is involved with a number of organisations including Wye Valley School, Bourne End junior sports clubs and Bourne End Community Association and before politics, Mike worked at Lucas Industries for 32 years.

Louise has been cabinet member for environment at Eastleigh Borough Council since 2002 and was a lead member on the South East England Regional Assembly from 2002 until it was dissolved earlier this year, when she was deputy leader. She continues as Liberal Democrat group leader and vice chair on the new South East England Councils. She is also a Hedge End town councillor.
Professionally, Louise has worked in the voluntary sector for many years and currently works for the mental health charity Solent Mind, based in Southampton, where she is the advocacy project manager.

Elizabeth is chairman of the Regional Housing Board, a post she has held since May 2006, and is cabinet member for housing at East Hampshire District Council (EHDC). She was the EHDC representative on the now dissolved Regional Assembly and an ex-officio member of the executive. First elected in 1987, Elizabeth has extensive experience of housing issues, having been housing committee chairman and council representative on the boards of Hangras and East Hampshire Housing Associations. She was leader of the Council from 1999-2004. She is also a member of the Rural Housing Advisory Group and chairs the Hampshire Alliance Rural Affordable Housing (HARAH) Members Group in central Hampshire.

Pamela brings the voluntary and community sector perspective to the SEEDA Board. She established the Connexions service in Hampshire and Isle of Wight; providing information, advice, guidance and support to young people, and ‘connecting’ services for young people across the statutory and voluntary sectors. Pam has a strong commitment to matching skills to the need of employers, particularly through the development of apprenticeships and other training  rogrammes, and is a member of the South East Regional Learning and Skills Council. Her previous career was in health service management. Pam is vice chair of the Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust, which provides mental health and learning disability services to adults and young people. Pam is also a governor of  Treloar College, a national specialist college for young people with a disability.

Les has spent 20 years in various management positions with British Gas and latterly Tansco. Les was an author of the Network Code (a common set of rules for all gas industry players which ensures that competition can be facilitated on level terms), before moving into IT. In November 2000 he joined United Utilities as an executive director and in July 2005 Les was appointed CEO of Southern Water.

Les is a fellow of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Managers and a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts. In the 2009 New Years Honours List, Les was awarded an OBE in recognition of his services to the energy and water industries, as well as his extensive charity work for Wateraid.

Keith qualified as a chartered accountant in 1967 and enjoyed a successful career in publishing and professional education until selling his business interests in 1990 to enter public service. He has served as an Oxfordshire County councillor for the Bloxham Division since 1989 and has been leader of the council since November 2001.
Keith served as chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly from July 2005 to July 2008 and as chairman for the English Regions Network, representing
the eight English regions, from July 2006 to July 2008. He also served as chairman of the South East County Leaders’ Group. In the Queen’s 2007 Birthday  honours List, Keith was awarded a CBE in recognition of services to local government.

Tony has been a member of Reading Council since 1973, at present he is deputy leader of the council and holds the cabinet portfolio for strategic planning and transport. He was chair of Reading Buses, one of 14 remaining council owned bus companies, from 1986 until 2005. Tony has represented the council on the Local Government Association since 1997 and is a member of its Transport Board. He leads the LGA team on the Ministerial Bus Partnership Forum. Since 1997 Tony has represented Reading on the Thames Valley Police Authority, as well as serving on the Association of Councils of the Thames Valley Region.

Alex, from Buckinghamshire, is an entrepreneur who runs seriousreaders.com, which manufactures high-grade reading lights. On secondment to the Government, he
created and led the former Department for Trade and Industry's (DTI) International Innovation team, and acted as a catalyst for key innovations such as the national brokerage model for business support and re-branding Britain.
He has been chairman of the DTI Business Link National Assessment Panel and of the business link in Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Bucks. He was awarded an OBE for services to business and education in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2006.

Cllr Robertson has been county councillor for Witney East Division since 2001. He is deputy leader Oxfordshire County Council, chairman of Oxfordshire Highways and board member of Science Vale UK and Witney Educational Foundation. He is also chairman of the Public Service Board Oxfordshire. Cllr Robertson has lived in Witney since 1987 and is married with two children and two grandchildren.

Paul has been in district and county politics for over 20 years and is currently leader of Dover District Council. During this time he has been a Kent County councillor and former chairman and treasurer of the Dover and Deal Conservative Association. He was the parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party in the 2005 election and had previously fought two general elections. Paul is also chairman of the South East Strategic Partnership for Migration and secretary to the South East England Councils. Paul is a former registered nurse and selfemployed businessman with retail property interests.
Among other activities he has held a range of governorships within the primary, secondary and further education sector and was formally a member of the Court of the University of Kent.