2024 Speakers

Damian Collins OBE MP

Former DCMS Minister & former Chair of the DCMS Select Committee

Damian has been the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe since 2010. Between 2016 and 2019 he was Chair of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, having previously served as a member. In this role he led the Committee’s inquiries into doping in sport, disinformation and fake news, football governance, reality TV, homophobia in sport, and addictive and immersive technologies.

In 2021 he was appointed Chair of the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill, working with Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords to scrutinise the Government’s plans to regulate social media. In 2022 he served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. In November 2023 he was appointed a member of the Commons committee scrutinising the Government’s Media Bill.

Outside of politics Damian is a lifelong supporter of Manchester United, and a member of the MCC. His first book, Charmed Life, The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon, was published in 2016.