Bar Council membership, meetings and minutes
The Bar Council
The Bar Council membership is made up of approximately 115 barristers, who are elected or who represent the Inns, Circuits and other interest groups. The Bar Council meets about seven times a year. The Council elects its Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer.
The Constitution of the General Council of the Bar sets out the functions and powers of the Bar Council, including its composition, the rules for appointment and election of members and officers, and the conduct of meetings.
Bar Council members 2025
The Bar Council comprises members who represent the main sections of the profession. The role of Bar Council members is to represent their 'constituency' by collating and relaying their views at Bar Council meetings and/or disseminating relevant non-confidential Bar Council information to them. Read the full Bar Council member role profile.
Chair
Barbara Mills KC
Vice Chair
Kirsty Brimelow KC
Treasurer
Lucinda Orr
The Chair and Vice Chair of the Bar are ex-officio members of all representative committees and any other committees appointed by the Bar Council except the BSB and its regulatory committees. Their membership does not contribute to the overall number of members. (Paragraph 41a of the standing orders for committees)
The Rt Hon the Lord Richard Hermer KC – Attorney General
Lucy Rigby MP – Solicitor General
Stephen Parkinson – Director of Public Prosecutions
Inns representatives
Melissa Coutino – Lincoln’s Inn
Emma Southern – Lincoln’s Inn
Linda Turnbull – Lincoln’s Inn
Saira Kabir Sheikh KC– Inner Temple
Simon Atkinson – Inner Temple
Minka Braun – Inner Temple
Ruth Kirby KC – Middle Temple
Richard Wright KC – Middle Temple
Guy Williamson – Middle Temple
James Lewis KC– Gray’s Inn
Christina Michalos KC – Gray’s Inn
Amanda Jepson – Gray’s Inn
Circuit representatives
Harpreet Sandhu KC – Leader, Midland Circuit
Barbara Connolly KC – Midland Circuit
Lee Marklew – Midland Circuit
Jaime Hamilton KC – Leader, Northern Circuit
Winston Hunter KC- Northern Circuit
Andrew Howe - Northern Circuit
Jason Pitter KC – Leader, North Eastern Circuit
Nicholas Johnson KC – North Eastern Circuit
Jasmine Chen - North Eastern Circuit
Claire Davies KC – Leader, South Eastern Circuit
Tomas McGarvey – South Eastern Circuit
Harry O'Sullivan – South Eastern Circuit
Caroline Rees KC– Leader, Wales and Chester Circuit
Owen Thomas KC – Wales and Chester Circuit
Cathrine Grubb – Wales and Chester Circuit
Jo Martin KC – Leader, Western Circuit
Kate Lumsdon KC – Western Circuit
TBC – Western Circuit
Association Chairs
Gaynor Wood – Chair, Bar Association for Commerce, Finance & Industry
Ian Clarke KC – Chair, Chancery Bar Association
Alex Gunning KC – Chair, Commercial Bar Association
Mary Prior KC – Chair, Criminal Bar Association
James Roberts KC – Chair, Family Law Bar Association
Adam Baradon KC – Chair, London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association
Association representatives
David Bunting – Bar Association for Commerce Finance & Industry
Dr Mirza Ahmad – Bar Association for Local Government and the Public Service representative
Philip Moser KC – Bar European Group representative
Rory Brown – Chancery Bar Association representative
Henry King KC – Commercial Bar Association representative
Amy Mannion – Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association representative
Riel Karmy-Jones KC – Criminal Bar Association representative
Maddy Charlesworth, FDA – Crown Prosecution Service Section representative
Sean Jones KC – Employment Law Bar Association representative
Tahmina Rahman – Family Law Bar Association representative
TBC – Government Legal Service representative
Shobana Iyer – Intellectual Property Bar Association representative
TBC – London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association representative
Charlie Woodhouse KC – Personal Injuries Bar Association representative
Stephanie Hall – Planning & Environment Bar Association representative
Ivor Collett – Professional Negligence Bar Association representative
Faisel Sadiq – Property Bar Association representative
Dilpreet Dhanoa – Revenue Bar Association representative
Luke Wygas – Technology & Construction Bar Association representative
Elected: self-employed King's Counsel
Kama Melly KC
Barbara Mills KC
Fenner Moeran KC
Deshpal Panesar KC
Lucy Reed KC
Tony Singla KC
Elected: self-employed juniors over 7 years in practice
Shazia Akhtar
Elaine Banton
Abigail Bright
Cleon Catsambis
Anton van Dellen
Sarah Gaunt
Sara Ibrahim
Shobana Iyer
Asad Maqsood
Katrina Mather
Martyn McLeish
James Paterson
Michael Polak
Paul Powlesland
Daniel Sheridan
Natasha Shotunde
Anna Soubry
Philip Stott
John-Paul Swoboda
Leanne Targett-Parker
David Christopher Taylor
Elected: self-employed juniors under 7 years in practice
Yaa Dankwa Ampadu-Sackey
Bella Dennis
Amrit Dhanoa
Alice Hands
Emma Hughes
James Kane
Anushka Kangesu
Matthew Keliris-Thomas
Shoshana Mitchell
Harry Stratton
Sean Summerfield
Emma Walker
Elected: employed KC or juniors over 7 years in practice
Mike Jones KC
Heidi Stonecliffe KC
Lucinda Orr
Peter Grieves-Smith
Lorinda Long
Simon Regis
James Robinson
Emma Torr
Sarah Williams
Elected: employed juniors under 7 years in practice
Brittany Buckell
Sarah Gerrard
Aoife Kennedy
Cait McDonagh
Aimee Stokes
Alexandra Sutton
Co-opted members
Rachel Crasnow KC
Jacob Hallam KC
Stephen Kenny KC
Hugh Mercer KC
Eleena Misra KC
Sara George
Samantha Singer
Lachlan Stewart
202
- Wednesday 8 January 2025 - Chair’s inaugural address at Inner Temple
- Saturday 8 February 2025 - Bar Council offices
- Tuesday 15 April 2025 - Inner Temple
- Tuesday 26 June 2025 - Bar Council offices (followed by the Bar Council Summer Reception)
- Saturday 13 September 2025 (this is followed by the AGM) - Bar Council offices.
- Saturday 15 November 2025 - On circuit (venue tbc)
- Wednesday 3 December 2025 - “First meeting of the Bar Council 2026”, online only
Bar Council minutes
21 January 2017
AGM minutes