The Institute of Economic Affairs has announced Lord Daniel Hannan as its new director general. Hannan, a former Tory MEP who was one of the top Vote Leave figures in 2016, will take up the post on 1 June 2026. He has long been an avid critic of the EU
Mauricio Alencar
Friday 24 April 2026 2:00 pm
The Institute of Economic Affairs has announced Lord Daniel Hannan as its new director general.
Hannan, a former Tory MEP who was one of the top Vote Leave figures in 2016, will take up the post on 1 June 2026.
He has long been an avid critic of the EU and was one of the orchestrators of Brexit as a top Vote Leave strategist.
He succeeds Lord David Frost, the former chief negotiator for Brexit under Boris Johnson, at the helm of the free-market think tank. Frost will remain with the institute as a senior policy fellow.
Lord Hannan, who is also a Daily Telegraph columnist, will step down as the international secretary of the Conservative Party – a role he has held under four different leaders.
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He will also relinquish the Conservative whip in the House of Lords to sit as a non-affiliated peer.
The move signals the IEA’s desire to maintain its status as not being affiliated with any political party.
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The appointment comes at a time when the IEA believes the post-war consensus on high spending and taxation has returned, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves hiking taxes cumulatively by around £60bn over her first two Budgets.
The current Labour government is also pushing for closer ties with the EU, which would come into collision with Hannan’s thinking at the rightwing think tank.
Hannan versus Reeves
Lord Hannan noted that current levels of taxation and spending now exceed those of 1955, the year the IEA was founded.
“The route to national prosperity, now as then, is through deregulation, free trade, sound money and low spending,” Hannan said.
“It’s not just the politicians we need to convince. When voters understand the case for a smaller government, MPs follow.”
Linda Edwards, chairman of the IEA board of trustees,said Hannan would focus the think tank’s work on “examining the evidence carefully”.
Frost said: “Hannan understands that ideas are the engine of political change, and that the IEA’s job is to supply them — clearly, honestly, and without flinching.”
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