Giles Wilkes Keynote Speaker

Leader Writer, Financial Times (2014-present)
Special Adviser to Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (2010-14)
Chief Economist, CentreForum (2008-10)

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Giles Wilkes's Biography

Giles Wilkes is an economist and Westminster insider, who currently works as a leader writer for the Financial Times. He previously spent four years as special adviser to Secretary of State Vince Cable at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

From 2008-10, Giles was Chief Economist of CentreForum, an independent, liberal think-tank seeking to develop evidence based policy solutions to the problems facing Britain. He authored the award-winning pamphlet, “A Balancing Act: Fair Solutions to a Modern Debt Crisis.”

In 2014, Giles wrote “Special Advisers: The Unelected Lynchpin”, an Institute for Government ‘Inside Out’ publication that focused on how special advisers drive through policy by reconciling many different interests.

An Oxford graduate, with an MBA from London Business School and a Masters in Global History from the LSE, he spent 10 years working at IG group, a specialist in financial derivatives.