Baroness Catherine Ashton served as the European Union's first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy from 2009-2014 and now holds several portfolios in foreign and security policy. She is a consultant to the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and sits on the Advisory Board for the Warsaw Security Conference and Alpbach European Forum. As a member of the House of Lords, she serves on the European Affairs Committee and Chairs the Space & the UK Inquiry.

On behalf of the UN Security Council, she chaired the negotiations that ultimately resulted in the agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme. She also worked with the Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo leading to the Brussels agreement, for which she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Previously, she was the first female EU Commissioner for Trade.

Prior to becoming an EU commissioner, she was a UK government minister in the House of Lords. She served in the Education and Justice departments, before being promoted to the Cabinet as Leader of the House of Lords.