The British Foreign Policy Group was delighted to host Tom Tugendhat MP, Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling and the Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, on Tuesday 26 May.

With the COVID-19 pandemic having thrown a seismic new energy into geopolitics, just at the moment when the UK is striving to articulate its vision for ‘a truly Global Britain’, the work of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee has taken on renewed importance. A conversation with the BFPG’s Director, Sophia Gaston, explored the bearings of the pandemic on the Integrated Review and scrutinising the Government’s foreign affairs agenda, upcoming inquiries being conducted by the Committee, as well as broader discussion around the UK’s rapidly evolving relationship with Europe, the United States, Russia and China.

Tom Tugendhat MBE MP – Tom Tugendhat is the MP for Tonbridge and Malling, and the Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee. A fluent Arabic speaker, Tom served in the British Army until July 2013. In his decorated military and intelligence career, he served on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and, most recently, as the military assistant and principal adviser to the Chief of the Defence Staff. In 2015, he was elected as the Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling. In July 2017, Tom was elected as the youngest-ever Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and was reappointed by his Commons peers to the position in January 2020.

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee examines the expenditure, administration and policy of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and other bodies associated with the Foreign Office and within the Committee’s remit, including the British Council.