Voluntary Director - Frances Lasok
The Voluntary Director is effectively CPF’s Chief Executive Officer, in charge of day-to-day operational & strategic leadership. This includes ensuring effective policy discussion, membership engagement and feedback submission to the Leader and Shadows, and - with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman - working with the Policy Renewal Programme, Shadows and the wider voluntary party to set the strategic direction of CPF. The National Conservative Convention, the Party's senior volunteers, elect the Voluntary Director once every three years.
The current Voluntary Director is Frances Lasok, elected in March 2025. Frances led marginal seat campaigns from 2015-2019, securing several of the narrowest election victories in the country. She holds two degrees from the University of Warwick, including research focused on the changing nature of political membership, and is also an OSCE Election Observer and a writer on technology and democracy.
Chairman - John Penrose
The CPF Chairman is a senior politician whose role is to provide core strategic leadership and guidance to the CPF Executive team, with a particular focus on ensuring that the work of the organisation aligns to the priorities of the Shadow Ministers, the Leader, and Conservative Central Office. The Chairman is appointed by the Leader of the Conservative Party.
The current Chairman is John Penrose, the former MP for Weston Super Mare and former Government Minister in both the Cabinet Office, Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Northern Ireland Office. John is also Founder & Director of the Centre for Small-State Conservatives.
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Vice Chairman - Ahmereen Reza OBE
The Vice Chairman is a senior Conservative Party volunteer, who plays a complimentary strategic role with the Chairman with a particular focus on governance and organisational alignment with the wider Conservative Voluntary Party. The Vice-Chairman is appointed by the Chairman of the National Convention, and by convention is an elected National Convention President or Vice-President.
The current CPF Vice Chairman is Ahmereen Reza OBE, who has served in this role since July 2025. Ahmereen has previously served as Chair of CWO Diversity, Vice Chair for Conservative Friends of Pakistan, and as CPF’s Area Leadership Champion.
Executive Team
Deputy Director for National Policy - Cllr Selina Short
The Member Expert Groups (MEG) are groups of members with specific policy expertise, working with the appropriate Shadow Cabinet member on policy formation: MEG ideas feed into - and out of - the consultations worked on by the geographical groups. The Deputy Director for National Policy leads the MEGs and works to co-ordinate the policy consultations, working closely with the Shadows and the Renewal team. This role is appointed by the Director, following consultation with the Management Team.
The current Deputy Director for National Policy is Selina Short, who has been in this role since October 2025. Selina is currently a Councillor on Westminster City Council, representing Vincent Square Ward since 2018. Selina has also worked as a Senior Parliamentary Staffer for the past 14 years, following a 20 year communications career within Legal and Financial Services.
Deputy Director for Nations and Regions - Cllr Sai Karthik Madabhushi
CPF’s geographical groups work on the scheduled policy consultations put together in consultation with Renewal and the Shadows. Typically, this looks like a monthly or six-weekly get-together locally of interested members in that area to discuss their ideas and feed them back to CPF. The Deputy Director for Regions and Nations leads and co-ordinates these local CPF branches across the UK through the Regional Leaders. This role is appointed by the Director following consultation with the Management Team.
The current Deputy Director is Sai Karthik Madabhushi, who has served in this role since June 2025. Sai also serves as the Area Chairman for Northwest London Conservatives.
Voluntary Manager - Thomas Inman
The Voluntary Manager is the central coordinating and delivery role within the Conservative Policy Forum, including coordinating policy submissions received from both MEGs and local CPF branches, as well as translating workshop output into structured submissions and maintaining oversight of the operational systems used by the Management Team.
The current Voluntary Manager is Thomas Inman, who has been in this role since May 2025. Thomas also serves as the Treasurer for the Lancaster and Wyre Conservative Association. Prior to his current role, Thomas was the CPF Youth Ambassador for the North, and has a professional background within Financial and Management Accountancy.
Marketing Champion - Rebekah James
The Marketing Champion manages CPF’s ongoing communications strategy, ensuring that our work, priorities and output are clearly conveyed to members, stakeholders and the wider party across appropriate channels. Their job is to ensure CPF reaches as many interested members and supporters as we can.
Rebekah James currently serves as Marketing Champion. Rebekah is a Company Director with experience in marketing, communications and business development. She has led the branding, digital marketing and communications strategies for multiple businesses, with a particular focus on growing engagement through social media, content creation and campaigns.
Topical Events Champion - Yolanda Clatworthy
The Topical Events Champion is responsible for the design, delivery and follow-up of a monthly programme of CPF online events focused on (a) the CPF’s policy paper programme and (b) current political issues within the UK. These sessions will provide an opportunity for CPF members to discuss key questions and challenges within a particular topic, then generate policy solutions.
The current topical events champion is Yolanda Clatworthy. Yolanda has a long career in commercial and investment banking. She currently works as a freelance financial trainer, training across a broad spectrum of financial topics to a wide range of professionals from across the globe.
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Photo of John Penrose - Credit to House of Commons / John Townshend