Who we are

The Manifesto Club is coordinated day-to-day by a Steering Committee based in London. Steering Committee members are all actively involved in running the club’s main projects and campaigns – as well as meeting monthly to guide the club’s overall development.

We welcome proposals for projects from Manifesto Club members, so do get in touch – see below for all our emails. We are also always keen to hear from members who would like to devote more time and responsibility to organising the club’s work.


Josie Appleton Josie Appleton is convenor of the Manifesto Club; she oversees the club’s campaigns and publications, and coordinates the membership programme. She writes many of the club’s reports and briefings, including the books, ‘Leafleting: A liberty lost?‘ and ‘Pavement Injustice‘. As a journalist and writer, she writes on the freedom issues of the day for a number of publications, and blogs at www.notesonfreedom.com. She is author of the book ‘Officious – Rise of the Busybody State‘, published in December 2016 by Zero Books. Email her here.


Dolan Cummings Dolan Cummings heads up the club’s work for free speech and against the regulation of public space. He has a particular commitment to the idea of a free and vital public sphere, going back to 1993, when at the age of 18 he organised a demonstration against a nightclub curfew in Glasgow. Recently, he has written a Manifesto Club Thinkpiece against the smoking ban, A civilised approach to smoking policies; a proposal to abolish instrusive licensing laws; and a statement against the ban on drinking on London transport; and he coordinates the Manifesto Club campaign for free speech. He also manages the Manifesto Club website and Members’ Room. He is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Ideas in London, and edits its online review Culture Wars. He is also the editor of Debating Humanism, a collection of essays exploring different conceptions of humanist politics. Email him here.


Manick GovindaManick Govinda is co-ordinator for the Manifesto Club’s Visiting Artists campaign, against the UK Home Office’s restrictions on non-EU artists and academics. He is an artists’ producer and head of artists advisory services at Artsadmin, having produced and commissioned artists such as Zarina Bhimji, Zineb Sedira, Franko B, Yara El-Sherbini, Peter Liversidge and walkwalkwalk. He is a member of the Mayor of London’s Cultural Strategy Group and is a non-executive director of ArtRole, a-n: The Artists’ Information Company, and The Showroom.