Anthony Zacharzewski runs the Democratic Society, a non-partisan membership organisation promoting participation, citizenship and better democracy. His background is in central and local government in the UK. At various times he has been speechwriter at the Department of Health; secretary to the Cabinet Committees on health, food and agriculture; lead official for first-round Sure Start projects in East London and South-West England, and project leader in the Treasury’s internal think tank, the Productivity and Structural Reform Team. He joined Brighton & Hove City Council as Head of Policy in 2006, where he was responsible for strategy, community relations, and sustainability. After nine months on the authority’s board as Acting Director of Strategy & Governance, he left to work for the Society in February 2010.