The Ditchley Foundation is a foundation that holds conferences, with a primary focus on British-American relations. Based at Ditchley Park near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, it was established as a privately funded charity in 1958 by philanthropist Sir David Wills. Its current Director is James Arroyo.

Notable members

Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford Jonathan Hopkin Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford, (born 24 July 1960) is a British Conservative politician and former European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. Hill was Leader of the House of Lor ...

. Current chairman of Ditchley (2017- ). He also has roles as senior advisor,

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, or FBD) is a British multinational law firm headquartered in London, England, and a member of the so-called " Magic Circle". The firm has 28 offices in 17 jurisdictions across Asia, Europ ...

(2017-); independent national director, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' Newspapers; and board member,

Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a centre-right think tanks, think tank and advocacy group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," lo ...

. He was formerly European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union (2014–16);

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the governing party in the House of Lords who acts ...

and

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...

(2013–14); Undersecretary of State for Schools (2010-2013). *

George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

. He was also deputy-chairman of

TNK-BP TNK-BP (, ) was a major vertically integrated Russian oil company headquartered in Moscow. It was Russia's third-largest oil producer and among the ten largest private oil companies in the world. In 2013 it was acquired by Russian oil company R ...

. He was NATO Secretary General from 1999 to 2003 and UK

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also known as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the ...

from 1997 to 1999, chairman of the Ditchley Foundation, 2010–2017. * Sir

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

, the former

British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

, chairman of the Ditchley Foundation 2000–2009. * Sir

John Wheeler-Bennett Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett (13 October 1902 – 9 December 1975) was a conservative English historian of German and diplomatic history, and the official biographer of George VI, King George VI. He was well known in his lifetime, and ...

. British historian; the first chairman, appointed in 1958. * Sir Reginald Hibbert. Director 1982–1987. * Sir Philip Adams. Director 1977–1982. * Sir Michael Quinlan. Director 1992–1999. * Sir Nigel Broomfield. Director 1999–2004. * Sir

Jeremy Greenstock Sir Jeremy Quentin Greenstock (born 27 July 1943) is a British retired diplomat, active from 1969 to 2004. Life and career Greenstock was educated at Harrow School and at Worcester College, Oxford. He was an assistant master at Eton College f ...

. Director 2004–2010. * Sir John Holmes. Director 2010–2016. * James Arroyo. Director 2016–.

Council of Management

* Charles Low, 2nd Baron Aldington. Chairman, Machfast Group Ltd * George Bridges, Baron Bridges of Headley. Senior Adviser to the Group Executive Chairman,

Banco Santander Banco Santander S.A. trading as Santander Group ( , , ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Santander, with operative offices in Madrid. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in most global financial centres ...

* Janice Charette. Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland * Marjorie Neasham Glasgow. CEO, Ridge Clean Energy. President, The Glasgow Foundation. *Charles Grant Director, Centre for European Reform *

Dominic Grieve Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...

. Formerly Member of Parliament for

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

(1997-2019); Attorney General *

. Chairman of the Ditchley Foundation * Rachel Lomax. Deputy Chair,

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

. Chairman, Global Counsel. Formerly Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and

European Commissioner for Trade The European Commissioner for Trade (sometimes referred to as the ''EU Trade Commissioner'') is the member of the European Commission responsible for the Common Commercial Policy (EU), European Union's common commercial policy. Responsibilities ...

* Paul Newman. Former Chairman, ICAP Energy; Director, JC Rathbone Associates Ltd. * Elizabeth Padmore. Emeritus Trustee, Women for Women International - UK *

Emma Reynolds Emma Elizabeth Reynolds (born 2 November 1977) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister since January 2025. She was elected as Member of Parliament (United Ki ...

. Formerly Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton North East (2010-2019) * Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury. Chancellor of the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...

*Sir Nigel Sheinwald. Visiting Professor,

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

; Director,

Shell plc Shell plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and second ...

* Philip Stephens. Director of the Editorial Board and Chief Political Commentator, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' *Dr Catherine Wills. Trustee

References

Our Good Conference Guide: Magic mountains for the mind
- ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

- 26 December 1987 - Volume 305

External links

*
The Ditchley foundation councilThe Ditchley foundation governors
from the autobiography of Harry Hodson
Knives are out for Mandelson as new job begins
Enron - Mandelson discussions at Ditchley {{Authority control Organisations based in Oxfordshire Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom Foreign policy and strategy think tanks based in the United Kingdom Political and economic research foundations Think tanks established in 1958