Newsnight Jury

Who's who in The Newsnight Jury - 12 opinion formers who will be giving their assessment of the twists and turns on the political scene as we count down to a general election within the next year.

ROY HATTERSLEY

Roy Hattersley served in Jim Callaghan's cabinet and later became deputy leader of the Labour party, a position he held between 1983 and 1992.

He is a novelist, political biographer and columnist.

MICHAEL HOWARD

Michael Howard was elected as leader of the Conservative party in 2003 and held the position for over two years.

He currently represents Folkestone and Hythe at Westminster, but is to step down at the next election.

SHIRLEY WILLIAMS

Shirley Williams is an advisor on nuclear proliferation to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Originally a Labour MP, she was education secretary between 1976 and 1979, and was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party in 1981.

JONATHAN ISABY

Formerly the editor of the Daily Telegraph's Three Line Whip column, Jonathan Isaby is the co-editor of the unofficial blog and news site for the Conservative party, Conservative Home.

Before joining the Telegraph he was a political analyst at the BBC.

MARK LITTLEWOOD

Mark Littlewood is communications director of Progressive Vision.

He was formerly head of media for the Liberal Democrats. Before that Mr Littlewood was campaigns director of human rights group, Liberty.

RUPA HUQ

Rupa Huq is a sociology lecturer at Kingston University where she specialises in youth culture and pop music.

Ms Huq is also a blogger and journalist and has appeared on television and radio.

She was a Labour parliamentary candidate in the 2005 general election and also stood for Labour in the 2004 European election.

EKOW ESHUN

Ekow Eshun is the artistic director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), and an author, journalist and broadcaster.

He is the former editor of Arena magazine and a governor of the University of the Arts, London.

JOHN HARRIS

John Harris is a music and political journalist.

He has worked for the NME, been the features editor at Q and contributed to newspapers including the Independent, the Guardian and the Observer.

SIMON SEBAG-MONTEFIORE

Simon Sebag-Montefiore is a historian and writer, whose books have been published in 27 languages.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, novelist, and television presenter.

DANNY FINKELSTEIN

Daniel Finkelstein is a weekly columnist and chief leader writer at The Times.

Before that Mr Finkelstein was adviser to the former Prime Minister John Major and then Conservative leader William Hague.

OLLY GRENDER

Olly Grender is a political consultant. She was the Liberal Democrat communications director between 1990 and 1995, after which she became director of communications at Shelter.

Ms Grender has written for both the Guardian and PR Week.

PETER HYMAN

Peter Hyman is a history and politics teacher in an inner-London comprehensive.

Before becoming a teacher he was a strategist and speechwriter for Tony Blair for nine years, and ran the Strategic Communications Unit at 10 Downing Street.

My Hyman is also a published author and contributes to the Guardian and Observer newspapers.