Born in the United Kingdom but educated in South Africa Jonathan returned to the UK at the end of 1984. The next two years were, in his own words, “quite wasted but damned good fun. I had an off-road motorcycle and was living in the Lake District, say no more”. Deciding that it was time to start earning an honest living he joined the Metropolitan Police Force and was posted first to Kensington division before applying for a stint on the Territorial Support Group (riot squad).
His international experience really began when his Chief Inspector advised him to “get a degree if you want to go anywhere in this force”. Being a keen back-packer a four year degree in Latin American Studies at the University of Portsmouth followed. The timing of the Asian financial crisis in 1998 stymied his desire to enter the emerging markets sector so he moved to Holland to complete an MA in European Law. Fired up with the idea of working in international politics Jonathan entered Westminster in 1999 as an International Affairs & Defence researcher, from where he was head-hunted in 2001 by the then Shadow Foreign Secretary to be his Chief of Staff.
His five years as Chief of Staff were where he really honed his political communication skills. Dealing with often politically hostile issues ranging from the EU, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the Middle East, and not to mention the propensity for travel to war zones (he bumped into his old Chief Inspector in Baghdad in July 2003). Throughout this political sparring Jonathan maintained friendly working relations with the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw MP. Jonathan tries to work by one important rule, “Best not to leave enemies in your wake, it is amazing how small the world of international politics is and you always meet people when you least expect it”. In 2005 he left the world of Westminster politics to set up his own foreign affairs think tank, Global Strategy Forum before moving to Sans Frontieres in March 2008.
Jonathan cites flexibility as his secret ingredient for both a successful professional and personal life. “If you had told me at the beginning of the ‘90s that by the end of the decade I would have lived in both Mexico and Holland for a year, spoke Spanish, travelled extensively through Latin America, cycled east to west across America in 38 days and end up working in the House of Commons briefing the Shadow Foreign Secretary on policy matters I would have laughed. I guess I just went with the flow, took the opportunities and have enjoyed every minute of it”
For Sans Frontieres Jonathan specialises in country branding and international networking.
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