President Gast joins Mayor of London's Brexit advisory group

Imperial's President Alice Gast is to advise the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on the risks, challenges and opportunities following the EU referendum.

Professor Gast is joining Sir George Iacobescu, Chair and CEO of the Canary Wharf Group, Sherry Coutu Executive Chair of the Scaleup Institute and the former European Trade Commissioner Lord Peter Mandelson on the new Brexit Expert Advisory Panel.

President Gast is one of 14 expert members, including leaders from financial services, technology, science and media. They will provide on-call advice and guidance to the Mayor as he begins a series of monthly meetings with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis MP.

The news follows Professor Gast’s recent interventions in the Brexit debate including a series of meetings with senior politicians, as well as interviews with the Evening Standard and Le Figaro, a comment piece in the Wall Street Journal, and a letter to the Economist.

Global innovation powerhouse

Professor Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London, said: “London is a global innovation powerhouse, but we should be ambitious to do more. It is vital that the capital has access to the talent and market conditions needed to create the jobs, prosperity and discoveries that will improve the lives of all Londoners. I look forward to working with the Mayor and this expert group to develop pragmatic proposals to make Brexit work.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We need to strike a deal that safeguards London’s position as the best city in the world to do business and this expert group of advisors will allow me to tap into some of our greatest business minds as these negotiations progress.

“Securing privileged access to the single market, maintaining passporting rights for financial services and ensuring London can continue to attract global talent are all recurring themes from my conversations with business – and I look forward to working with this panel as we aim to strike a deal that works for the capital.”

Main photo credit: Kyle Gradinger